RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The accident occurred Sunday when the motorboat, carrying 80 passengers, collided with an oil freighter traveling in a convoy toward Iquitos, the Amazon region’s capital.
Peruvian Defense Minister Walter Ayala confirmed the death of 14 people and the disappearance of 14 other passengers from a motorboat on the Huallaga River in the Amazon region of Loreto that collided with another vessel on Sunday.
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Ayala told Canal N that as a result of Sunday’s collision, 12 bodies were found in the river, out of an estimated 80 passengers aboard the vessel, but that “today (Monday) two more were found.”
The rescue work is being carried out by the Peruvian Navy, which has sent divers to search for the missing in the river near the port of Zamora, near the district of Yurimaguas. “14 other missing people are being searched for underwater by Navy divers,” Ayala said of the missing reported by relatives.
About six injured passengers were taken to the Alto Amazonas Health Center for treatment, while about 60 people were rescued by the Navy and private vessels.
The minister added that the drivers of the vessels involved in the accident were taken into custody to determine responsibility for the accident and whether there were any violations or shortcomings in the transportation of passengers on rivers.
The collision occurred on Sunday when the motorboat, carrying 80 passengers, collided with an oil freighter traveling in a convoy toward the regional capital of Iquitos. The injured passengers were members of the religious community “New Jerusalem,” local media reported.