Massive Rescue Underway After Tourist Boat Carrying 150 People Sinks In Colombia

Get the Full StoryFredy Builes Reuters

At least nine people are dead and dozens of others are missing after a packed tourist boat carrying about 150 people sank Sunday afternoon in a reservoir near Medellin, Colombia, officials said.A massive rescue operation is still underway as firefighters, Colombia's air force, and specialized divers continue to search for survivors. Twenty-eight people were still unaccounted for Sunday night, several hours after the multi-story ferry crammed with passengers visiting the popular holiday spot for the long weekend dramatically plunged into the water. About a dozen others are being treated for injuries at a local hospital.Shocking videos of the incident show the multi-story ferry rocking and submerging into the water as passengers scramble to the top floor. An armada of jet skis and recreational boats then surrounds the boat to help rescue passengers on board.

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The Colombian air force said on Twitter that it was sending a helicopter to the scene and the Administrative Department of Disaster and Risk Management said about a dozen scuba divers, two rescue units, a fire captain, and several firefighters were assisting in rescue efforts.

"The most important thing right now is to save lives," Federico Gutierrez, the mayor of Medellin told the Associated Press.The ferry was the only vessel involved in the accident, government officials said, though it was not immediately clear what caused it to suddenly sink. Survivors told local media that the boat seemed to be overloaded, and that many of the passengers had not been wearing life vests."It sank extremely quickly. It all happened in a few minutes," said Luis Bernardo Morales, a fire service captain helping coordinate the rescue operation."What we have seen in the videos is that the boat was very close to the port," Morales said, "and we do not know whether it was a mechanical failure, an overloading or something to do with the currents that caused it to sink."

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Fire officials told BuzzFeed News that they could not confirm how many people had been hurt in the accident. "We're taking care of the emergency," a spokesperson for the Rio Negro Fire Department said. "We can only give information with the authorization of the commander."Gonzalo Reyes, a musician who had been onboard the boat, told Colombia's Blu Radio that he had been singing on the third floor when he heard a loud bang and the boat turned to the left side."That boat was not distributed to accommodate so many people," Reyes told the news station. "I think there was overcrowding." He also noted that members of the crew had not been wearing life vests.This is a developing story. Follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter for udpates

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