Up to 25 dead after Colombia tourist boat sinks

Up to 25 dead after Colombia tourist boat sinks



This is the dramatic moment a tourist boat with 150 passengers on board sank in Colombia leaving up to 25 dead.

Video shows the vessel going down on the Penol reservoir in the tourist town of Guatape, 28 miles east of Medellin just five minutes after leaving dry land

Authorities say nine are confirmed dead and at least 16 more are still missing from the El Almirante ferry, which local media said had been involved in three previous accidents.

There were claims this morning that passengers were not given life jackets as they boarded the vessel.



Tourists were seen scrambling to get to upper decks in a bid to stay above the surface level as the boat filled with water.

Video showed jet-skis and other boats rushing towards the vessel to pick up those floating in the water.



One survivor, who did not want to be named, said: 'Those on the first and second floors sank immediately.

'The boat was sinking and all we could do was scream and call for help.'

Local Italian restaurant owner Daniel Giraldo said he went to the bay after hearing the sound of ambulances.

When he got to the shore people told him the ship had gone under and after going to the hospital he saw a baby girl in a wet dress who had been saved but whose mother was missing.



The country's Air Force said in a statement:  'Our aircraft and crews are ready to evacuate those who require immediate attention.'

The roads in the local area have been cleared so emergency services can reach those who survived the horror sinking.

President Juan Manuel Santos has also pledged government support to help the survivors.

Many passengers said they were given no life-jackets when they boarded the vessel.

This morning, it emerged that the vessel had been involved in three previous accidents.

The boat came close to sinking near an island known as Fantasy Island in another part of the reservoir, local media said.

The second accident is understood to have happened at a jetty known as El Malecon.

Local business owner Marilyn Usme revealed there had been a third incident around three months ago, near the same jetty, but few people had found out about it because it happened at night and no passengers had been on board at the time.

She told a local radio station: 'The boat was fixed and carried on working as normal.'



A Civil Defence worker described the construction of the four-storey ferry as 'hand-crafted.'

Hernando Jaramillo, a Guatape resident and member of the regional Antioquia Department Civil Defence team, said: 'These boats really are constructed in a traditional way.

'I got to know the shipbuilder's yard where they were made. They're not authorised by nautical engineers or experts in navigation. They're boats built here with peoples' own hands.'

Six of the dead, believed to be all Colombian nationals, have already been named and include ferry captain Luis Jaramillo's daughter Valentina, who was working aboard.

The only foreigner known to have been hospitalised so far is a Belgian woman who was treated for a panic attack.

Regional disaster response unit Dapard confirmed nine people had died in the tragedy, five of whom were recovered lifeless from the reservoir and another four who died in hospital.

Rescue boats helped 99 people to safety, with another 40 reaching dry land themselves. Divers are searching for another 16 people believed to be missing.

The tragedy occurred around 2.30pm local time when the ferry, one of the largest used on the four-mile-long reservoir, which is three miles wide at some points and has a depth of 200ft, was less than a mile into its 50-minute pleasure trip.

Survivor Nora Perez, who was on the ferry with a group of 20 relatives from three different families, told how it started to move from one side to another as she was with a cousin on the second floor.

She said: 'The captain told us to move to the right and then yelled at us to move to the left and then finally, to go forwards. But by then it was already sinking on all sides.'



She added: 'My cousin broke one of the viewing windows and we both leapt into the water.

'I don't know how to swim and I have no idea how I stayed afloat. It's a miracle I'm still alive.'

Another survivor, Eder Tobon, was quoted as saying: 'We began to hear a loud noise next to the shop and men's bathroom.

'One of the girl shop workers went to have a look and started shouting that water was coming in.