Boat collision in Peru kills 11 people

The accident on the Huallaga River resulted in the death of at least 11 people. On Sunday, two boats collided in the northeastern Yurimaguas province of Peru, according to the National Institute of Civil Defense (NICD).

The fatal accident took place at 05:30 local time on the Huallaga River, on Sunday, when a boat full of passengers crashed into a freight barge amid dense mist at dawn. The crash caused the wooden passenger boat, the Ayachi, to capsize.

“So far there is an undetermined number of missing persons, as well as 11 dead and six injured,” the NICD said in a statement.

The sailors, firefighters, policemen and doctors in charge of the search for those who disappeared. The local TV channel’s footage showed survivors crying on the riverbank as authorities carried some bodies away.

As the survivors said, entire families were travelling in the damaged boat, including about 20 children.

The passengers belonged to a religious community that was returning to the city of Yurimaguas after participating in a vigil in a secluded hamlet in the jungle known as Santa Maria.