Divers search for 9 still missing in ferry sinking
GUATAPE, Colombia — Scuba divers on Monday continued searching for bodies in a reservoir near the Colombian city of Medellin where a tourist ferry packed with more than 150 passengers capsized, leaving at least seven people dead and nine missing.
After suspending their search overnight due to a lightning storm, divers by midmorning Monday had pulled a seventh body from the underwater wreckage. Authorities were also turning their attention to the causes of the sinking and whether the company that owned the boat named El Almirante contributed to the accident.
A flotilla of recreational boats and personal watercrafts had rushed to the scene Sunday, pulling people from the boat as it went down and avoiding an even deadlier tragedy.
Survivors described hearing a loud explosion near a men’s bathroom that knocked out power a few minutes after the boat began its cruise around the lake. As water flooded on board, people were sucked under by the sinking ship. But it remained unclear exactly what caused the boat to sink.
In the absence of a passenger list, authorities have been relying on family members and survivors to report their whereabouts. On Monday the number of people missing was down to 9. Of those who survived the crash, three remain hospitalized but are out of danger, said Margarita Moncada, the head of the disaster relief agency in Antioquia state.
A group of a few dozen scuba divers were working Monday in hour-long shifts, looking for bodies trapped in the frigid waters around the wreckage at a depth of over 100 feet.
Some survivors and people who witnessed the tragedy unfold from the nearby shore said the boat appeared to be overloaded. But President Juan Manuel Santos, who traveled to Guatape to oversee search efforts, said it was sailing well below capacity. None of the passengers was wearing a life vest.
“Nobody really knows what happened,” said Santos, adding that naval officials were brought in to carry out an investigation.
The reservoir surrounding the soaring rocky outcrop of El Penol is a popular weekend destination a little more than an hour from Medellin. It was especially busy Sunday as Colombians celebrated a long holiday weekend, some of them taking a $5 pleasure cruise on El Almirante.
The Transportation Ministry said the company that owned the boat had its certification renewed in December.