Passenger Vessel Sinks in Amazon, 2 Dead

Peruvian and Colombian patrol vessels are continuing a search for missing passengers nearly two days after the tourist boat they were traveling on sank in a stretch of the Amazon River, running through Peru’s Loreto region.

Two people have been confirmed dead so far, including a 17-year-old girl.

The vessel, Flipper II, sailed from Iquitos and was heading for Santa Rosa. It was carrying two crewmembers and 18 passengers, including six foreign nationals from Russia, India, the United States, Chile and Colombia.

The passenger vessel reportedly hit a submerged tree trunk near Boca Cacao and started sinking. The first rescue operations were conducted by nearby tourism vessels, which were able to rescue 12 of the passengers before a Colombian patrol boat arrived to pick them up.

The river patrol boat Rio Putumayo and Colombian navy patrol vessels are participating in the search-and-rescue operations. Three of those still missing are reportedly minors.