Five people were killed by an explosion on a river tank barge near Paraguay's capital city of Asuncion on the morning (local time) of Saturday, July 4.
The incident occurred on the unnamed barge while it was moored on a stretch of the Paraguay River where maintenance yards and fleeting areas were also present.
Video footage of the incident showed part of the barge's deck being torn off by the explosion, exposing the vessel's inner bulkheads.
The barge was undergoing maintenance at the time of the blast. According to local news reports, the vessel's cargo tanks were empty of fuel.
Officials said three personnel who were working on the barge were found deceased while two other injured individuals were evacuated to hospital for treatment but expired later that same day.
A Paraguayan Navy official said a sixth individual who had also been working on the barge was on board a different vessel when the explosion occurred.
The navy and a local prosecutor's office have begun investigating the incident.
