Nine people have been found dead while rescue workers continued searching for 28 missing persons after a tourist ship carrying 170 sank in one of Colombia’s most popular tourist hotspots, the rescue coordinator told local media.
The three-floor ship El Almirante, sank earlier on Sunday in the Guatape water reservoir, one of Colombia’s top tourist attraction, especially during bank holiday weekends like this one.
Rescue coordinator Margarita Maria Moncada told Medellin newspaper El Colombiano that 24 people had been sent to hospital after the tragic accident.
According to the hospital where the injured were sent, three died and seven were allowed to go home after treatment.
We officially have nine people who were found dead, and 99 people who were good from the beginning and immediately rescued. Another 40 people left [the ship] by themselves and are fortunately okay. And there are 28 people who are reported missing.
Rescue coordinator Margarita Maria Moncada
The Guatape hospital released the names of the 17 persons remaining in the hospital.
Lista de personas estables que están siendo atendidas en el hospital de Guatape. pic.twitter.com/zLRtbMHvFQ
— Daniel Castaño (@danielcasta) June 25, 2017
President Juan Manuel Santos traveled to the scene of the tragedy to personally inspect ongoing rescue efforts and publicly offer his condolences to the families of the second deadly accident in the country this weekend.
The Guatape Mayor’s Office declared three days of mourning, while rescue workers continue searching for the missing victims.
