Peru: 11 killed, over 50 missing after passenger boat collides with barge in Amazon basin

At least 20 people lost their lives and over 50 remain missing after two boats collided in Peru’s Amazon Basin on Sunday. According to Peruvian officials, the accident took place at 5:30 am (local time) on the Huallaga River in Muyuna.

News agency ANI reported that in the aftermath of the accident, authorities have initiated an elaborate rescue operation involving firefighters, policemen and sailors. 

"So far there is an undetermined number of missing persons, as well as 11 dead and six injured," the National Institute of Civil Defense was quoted as saying in a statement.

Tragic collision

In the wee hours of Sunday, a boat full of passengers collided with a freight barge amidst dense mist at dawn, according to state-run TV Peru. As a result, the passenger boat, Ayahi, carrying dozens of people capsized. While the boat was sailing at a slow pace to avoid a collision, it was the oil carrying barge that hit it, according to reports. 

One of the surviving passengers was quoted by ANI as saying that he heard a boat with its light off approaching their boat. According to reports, several passengers might have been asleep during the time of the collision. Presently a Navy team has been deployed for relief and rescue. Search operations for survivors were ongoing.    

Earlier, Peru had witnessed another mass tragedy after seventeen people were killed in a bus accident on an Andean highway. Hugo Meza, lieutenant of the B-82 firefighting unit, had told the Associated Press that the accident occurred in the early morning hours on the Interoceanic Highway in Lucanas province. Meza said they helped 19 injured people on the slopes of the hill where the bus fell and three of the most seriously wounded were sent to a hospital. Because of their serious injuries, the three succumbed on the way, said Víctor Núñez, director of the hospital where the victims were taken. The police still do not know why the bus left the road and plunged more than 200 metres (656 feet) down a hill.

Meanwhile, a ferry in Ibiza was evacuated after it crashed near a port on Sunday. The incident caused at least 15 people to be injured, including a 10-year-old boy who is in serious condition.