At Least 9 Dead in Brazil Ship Collision

At least three people died, and another 20 were missing and feared dead. Lt. Clovis Araujo said The Almirante Monteiro capsized at dawn near the isolated Brazilian town of Itacoatiara in the jungle state of Amazonas.

He said 92 people were rescued by a nearby floating police station and several small boats.

Araujo said rescue teams recovered the bodies of one woman and two children and are searching for another 20 passengers who we fear have also drowned.

He said he did not know how many people were on the barge, but "no one was hurt and the barge was not damaged."

Many of the missing were likely passengers who were asleep in cabins inside the two-storey wooden vessel and were unable to get out before the boat sank, state public safety department spokesman Aguinaldo Rodrigues said.

"As far as we can tell, just about all the survivors were passengers sleeping in hammocks on the deck," Rodrigues said.

Rodriguez said it was too early to determine the causes of the accident, but "visibility was very poor" at the time of the collision during the lunar eclipse that began Wednesday night.

The survivors were taken to the small town of Novo Remanso and sheltered in the local church. They were to be taken by helicopter to the state capital of Manaus.

Associated Press - The Almirante Monteiro capsized at dawn Thursday near the remote town of Itacoatiara in the jungle state of Amazonas, said Lt.Clovis Araujo, spokesman for the state's fire department.
He said 92 people were rescued by a nearby floating police station and several small boats.
"Rescue teams are still searching for another 20 passengers who we fear have drowned," he said. "The chances of finding them alive are remote."