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August 30, 2008 9:31:28 CDT

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Nine Dead, 10 Missing in Amazon Boat Wreck

Posted Feb 21, 08 1:59 PM CST in World 

(Newser) – Nine people died, and 10 more are missing and feared dead after a ferry in Brazil sank this morning after colliding with a barge on the Amazon River, the AP reports. Authorities, who rescued 92 passengers near the town of Itacoatiara, say  "visibility was very poor" at the time of the accident due to the lunar eclipse.

"The chances of finding them alive are remote," an official said of the missing passengers, who are assumed to have been asleep inside the two-story ship and unable to escape before it capsized. The rescued passengers were sleeping in hammocks on deck, one official reported. No injuries were reported on the barge, which was hauling fuel tanks and sustained no damaged.

Source Associated Press

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Sunlight rises over the Amazon river in this undated file photo. "Rescue teams recovered the bodies of one woman and two children and are searching for another 20 passengers who we fear have also drowned,"...   (Wikimedia Commons)
The mouth of the Amazon is seen in this undated aerial photo. The ferryboat Almirante Monteiro was carrying more than 100 passengers when it collided with a barge carrying fuel tanks and sank to the bottom,...   (Public Domain)
A Brazilian portion of the Amazon river is seen in this undated file photo. "As far as we can tell, just about all the survivors were passengers sleeping in hammocks on the deck," a Spokesman said.   (Shutterstock.com)
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