Thaindian News

IQUITOS, PERU (BNO NEWS) – Twelve bodies were recovered Thursday while around 220 people were rescued alive after a vessel sank in the Amazonas River in Peru, according to local media.

The Peruvian ship Camila was heading to the village of Santa Rosa near the Peru-Colombia border. The sinking took place at 2 a.m. while the approximately 280 passengers of the vessel were sleeping.

Two individuals were found dead at the shore, so far, 220 passengers have been rescued harmless of without serious injuries, according to RPP Noticias. At first, more than 200 passengers were missing. In the shore, 121 survivors were found, including twenty wounded, who were transported to Iquitos, Peru.

The vessel, “Camila,” was reported to have a capacity of 146 passengers but one survivor said that there were around 160 people in one deck and 100 in the other, an extra 78 percent. It is estimated that 280 passengers and an extra amount of fuel were aboard Camila.

There are some passengers are still missing and believed trapped and presumably dead inside the sunken vessel. After the disaster, screams and voices could be heard emanating from the ship’s inside but rescuers has not been able to open a hole in it. The voices and screams have since stopped. The rescuers have been unable to turn around the sunken ship.

Authorities said that the vessel was old and in bad shape. It was also reported that the vessel was overcrowded and did not carried enough life savers for the passengers. Rescuing efforts are still ongoing.