River ferry sinking in northern Brazil leaves 18 dead; 30 others missing

A total of 18 people were killed while another 30 have gone missing after a passenger vessel sank in Brazil on Saturday, February 29.

The river ferry Anna Karoline III had earlier left Santana in the northern Brazilian state of Amapá and was en route to the city of Santarem in Para state with a scheduled arrival of 06:00 local time on Sunday, March 1, following a 36-hour journey.

However, the vessel tipped over and sank on Saturday morning approximately 100 kilometres from the municipality of Laranjal do Jari.

Videos that have since surfaced on social media show some of Anna Karoline III‘s occupants scrambling to abandon the sinking ferry and then quickly being swept away by the strong current.

Search and rescue (SAR) teams have managed to pull 46 survivors and 18 deceased individuals out of the water. Another 30 people are believed to still be missing.

It had reportedly taken the SAR teams hours to reach the incident site as it was in a very remote region in the north of the country.

The sinking occurred in the Jari River, a tributary of the Amazon.

The Brazilian Navy has launched an investigation to identify the cause of the sinking as search operations continue to scour the area for any trace of the 30 missing individuals.