Boat sinks in Peruvian Amazon, killing at least six

LIMA: At least six people were killed and three are missing after a passenger boat sank on a river in the Peruvian Amazon, the navy and local media said on Wednesday.

The accident occurred early in the morning when the vessel carrying 48 passengers, including several teachers, hit a submerged log which punctured the hull.

“So far we have six dead” in the accident on the Ucayali River, navy Captain Jonathan Novoa told the Peru Noticias television station. The victims are between 30 and 45 years old. Most of the passengers were rescued by boats, but three were missing, local media reported.

Police and navy brigades were carrying out a search and the prosecutor´s office opened an investigation. The boat had left from the town of Pucallpa, about 727-km northeast of Lima, and was bound for the city of Atalaya.