Amazon ferry sinks; at least 58 dead

Press, 19 July 1988, Page 7

Amazon ferry sinks; at least 58 dead

NZPA-Reuter Brasilia At least 58 people died and some 30 others are missing and believed dead after an overcrowded ferry sank on the Amazon river, authorities said.

The packed ferry, Correio do Arari, struck the underwater wreckage of another boat and sank on Friday night. Coast guard officials raised the sunken hulk of the ferry on Sunday and found 15 bodies inside, some of4hem still lying in the hammocks where they were sleeping when the ferry sank.

“They found some women with babies still in their arms,” said a spokesman, Adriano

Pinto, of the harbourmaster’s office in the port of Belem. Officials had several hours to search for victims aboard the antiquated ferry before it suddenly broke free from a huge, floating crane and sank again. Corpses from the ferry washed up on riverbanks and fishermen found bodies floating miles downstream, some partly eaten by flesh-eating fish. Seventy-nine people were rescued or swam to safety, the police said.

The ferry was making an overnight voyage from Belem to the port of Cachoeira do Arari when it struck the

wreckage and sank in less than five minutes. The police said the ferry was holding up to three times its maximum capacity of 60 people plus several tonnes of cargo. Spokesmen at the harbourmaster’s office said a full investigation would be launched into the shipwreck, one of the worst ever on the Amazon.

Mr Pinto said there was little hope of finding more survivors because they would have drowned in strong river currents and undertows. There were no reports of foreigners among the 43 victims the police have identified so far.