Ferry carrying 133 passengers and crew sinks off Guyana coast
Local authorities said that 67 people have been rescued so far after the ferry carrying 116 passengers and 17 crew sank off the coast of Guyana.
Fifteen children were among those rescued after the MV Barima capsized near Iron Punt on Saturday. Dozens of people are still missing.
A distress call was received at 23:01 local time (03:01 GMT Sunday) triggering a search operation involving state and private boats, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said in a statement.
“We hope that we can explain the cause of all that happened on board,” he told reporters Sunday afternoon as emergency crews continued to search for survivors.
Both passengers and crew were among those rescued so far, Guyanese Prime Minister Mark Phillips told AFP earlier.
In a statement on Facebook, he said that the names of those on board will be announced after rescue operations and medical checks are completed. Assistance centers were established for relatives of the rescued people and missing passengers.
MV Barima was traveling from the capital Georgetown towards Kaituma Port when it capsized.
Edghill said it was equipped with 250 life jackets, two rigid lifeboats and six inflatable lifeboats.
According to a listing on VesselFinder, it was built in 1939 and is 40 m (131 ft) long.
