Source: DigitalJournal.com
Iquitos - A ship with about 200 passengers sank early this morning while travelling down the Amazon River, near the Peruvian city of Iquitos. Survivors have been rescued, however as many as 100 people are missing.The boat, MV Camila, with about 200 people on board including passengers and crew, sank this morning at 0240 hours (0740 GMT) while travelling from the city of Iquitos to the town of Santa Rosa, in the district of Indiana, near the border with Colombia.
Admiral Rodolfo Reátegui, chief of the General Command of Operations in the Peruvian Amazon, told radio station Radio-Programas del Perú (RPP) that dozens of survivors have been rescued, but two persons are dead and there is an unknown number of missing people.
Most of the passengers were Peruvians, however there were at least four Brazilians and one person of German nationality according with information given to RPP by Admiral Reátegui .
"There is evidence that the boat was carrying a larger number of passengers that it was allowed by its capacity," said Reátegui, adding that “Navy specialists continue to search for the missing.”
According to local media, the MV "Camila" was 12 years old and partially collapsed. There are reports of noise coming from the interior of the boat, apparently from trapped survivors.
Iquitos with a population of more than 370,000 people is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest. It is considered the most populous city in the world that cannot be reached by road. Located on the Amazon River, it is more than 3,000 km away from the mouth of the Amazon at Belém in Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. The city can be reached only by boat or plane.