A ferry carrying 116 passengers and 17 crew members sank off the coast of Guyana, with 67 people rescued so far, local officials said.
Fifteen children were among those rescued after the MV Barima capsized. After departing from the capital Georgetown on Saturday. Dozens of people are still missing.
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said a distress signal was received at 23:01 local time (03:01 GMT on Sunday), triggering a search operation involving a government team and a privately owned boat.
“We hope to be able to account for everyone on board,” he told reporters Sunday afternoon as emergency teams continued their search for survivors.
Those rescued included 41 men and 11 women, Prime Minister Mark Phillips told media. He added that the boat’s captain was among that number.
The captain added that crews returned to the area on Sunday to assist with rescue efforts, which have been “significantly increased” as the search area has more than doubled.
Phillips said the boat was not over its maximum weight at the time of the accident and was licensed to accommodate more than 300 passengers.
He said on Facebook that the names of those on board would be released once rescue operations and medical checks are complete.
A support center has been set up for rescued people and relatives of passengers still missing.
MV Barima was en route to Port Kaituma when it capsized near Iron Punt.
Edghill said it was equipped with 250 lifejackets, two rigid lifeboats and six inflatable lifeboats.
According to the VesselFinder listing, it was built in 1939 and is 40 meters (131 feet) long.
