15 still missing after tourist boat sinks in Colombia
In the absence of a passenger list, authorities have been relying on family numbers and survivors to report their whereabouts.
Scuba divers are continuing to search for bodies in a reservoir near the Colombian city of Medellin where a tourist boat packed with more than 150 passengers capsized, leaving at least six people dead and 15 missing.
Rescuers including firefighters and air force pilots in helicopters searched for survivors at the Guatape reservoir where the El Almirante ferry sank.
A flotilla of recreational boats and jet skis rushed to the scene, pulling people from the boat as it went down and avoiding an even deadlier tragedy.
In the absence of a passenger list, authorities have been relying on family numbers and survivors to report their whereabouts.
Overnight they reduced to 15 the number of people missing, down from an earlier count of twice that amount.
Dramatic videos circulating on social media show the turquoise-and-yellow-trimmed party boat rocking back and forth as people crawled down from a fourth-floor roof as it sank in a matter of minutes.
Survivors described hearing a loud explosion near the men’s bathroom that knocked out power a few minutes after the boat began its cruise around the giant lake.
As water flooded on board, pressure built and people were sucked under by the sinking ship.
“Those on the first and second floors sank immediately,” survivor Lorena Salazar told local media.
“All we could do was scream and call for help… it was completely chaotic.”
Of the 134 people who survived the crash, three remain in hospital but are out of danger, said Margarita Moncada, the head of the disaster relief agency in Antioquia state.
A group of 25 scuba divers had to suspend their search overnight due to a lightning storm. However, they resumed their work before dawn on Monday in hour-long shifts, looking to sweep for trapped bodies in the frigid, algae-filled waters around the wreckage at a depth of over 30 metres (100 feet).
Ms Moncada said the hardest part for scuba divers is to safely search the area around the first floor of the boat.
It is unclear what caused the boat to sink. Some survivors and people who witnessed the tragedy unfold from the nearby shore said the boat appeared to be overloaded.
However, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, who travelled 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 Mr Santos, adding that naval officials were brought in to carry out an investigation.
