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Dozens missing in Brazil capsize Ferry capsizes in Amazon region
(about 6 hours later)
At least 12 people have died and more than 40 are missing after a passenger boat capsized on a tributary of the Amazon in Brazil. At least 15 people have drowned and many are missing after an overcrowded ferry capsized in the Solimoes river in north-west Brazil.
The accident occurred on the River Solimoes as passengers were returning from a party near the city of Manaus. Navy diving teams teams searched for the missing at the scene near Manacapuru, 80km (50 miles) from the Amazonas capital Manaus.
Reports of the number of people on the Comandante Sales passenger boat vary from 80 to 150, far more than the allowed capacity of 50. Most of those on board the boat, which went down in a sudden rainstorm, were young people returning from a party.
Fire-fighters and 15 divers are trying to locate survivors in the silty river. Reports say the the Comandante Sales may have been overloaded.
The accident occurred on the Solimoes at around dawn on Sunday about 80km (50 miles) from Manaus, the city's fire department said. Local authorities say that many vesssels plying the route carried excess passengers and cargo.
Boats on the Amazon and its tributaries are frequently overloaded in passengers and cargo. Local media reported that some of the survivors had swum to shore, while others were rescued by other boats in the area.
Fire Lt Col Raimundo Rodrigues da Silva said the dead had not yet been identified. The Solimoes is a major tributary of the Amazon river.
Many people may have been asleep below deck when the accident happened, he said.