Brazil Ten children died when a small fishing boat sank on the Sao Francisco River, and rescue workers late Monday were looking for an 11th child who was still missing, officials said.
Nine of the dead were aged 1 to 11, and the tenth child was 16 years old. All belonged to an extended family of 18 who were travelling in a boat designed for six people, police said.
The missing girl was 10 years old.
The family was on its way to visit relatives on Sunday in Brazil’s Bahia province when the accident happened.
Six adults and one child managed to swim to shore after the boat tipped and sank in the region near Pilao Arcado, about 740 kilometres from Salvador, in the north of the province.
Officials said a strong wind could have also contributed to throwing the boat off balance. Police could consider bringing charges against the two fishermen who were piloting the boat, local media reports said.
“Such boats are only used by fishers. You can’t really carry a whole family. The chances that this trip would have succeeded were zero,” a local police official was quoted as saying.
