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Nine dead after tourist boat sinks in Colombia

By Ray Downs
Nine are dead after a tourist boat in Colombia sank near Medellin. Photo by Colombian Air Force
Nine are dead after a tourist boat in Colombia sank near Medellin. Photo by Colombian Air Force

June 25 (UPI) -- Colombian authorities said nine people died and more than 30 were missing after a tourist boat sank in a reservoir near the city of Medellin on Sunday.

Witnesses said the boat broke in two and the captain told passengers to go to one side of the ship, which was carrying more than 150 passengers. " It sank extremely quickly. It all happened in a few minutes," said fire service captain Luis Bernardo Morales. "What we have seen in the videos is that the boat was very close to the port ... and we do not know whether it was a mechanical failure, an overloading or something to do with the currents that caused it to sink."

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Margarita Moncada of a local disaster response agency, said that 99 people were rescued and another 40 were able to swim to shore.

Authorities have not released a cause for the accident. But local residents said the boat partially sank three months ago.

"They fixed it and it kept working normally," one of the residents said.

Passengers said life vests were not provided on board the boat.

The Colombian government sent the air force and scuba divers to look for survivors.

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"The most important thing right now is to save lives," said Mayor Federico Gutierrez.

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