Friday, August 19, 2005

More Than 100 Missing After Ecuadorian Vessel Sinks

The Colombian navy says more than 100 Ecuadorean migrants are missing and feared drowned after their overcrowded boat capsized and sank in the Pacific Ocean. Authorities said Wednesday that the migrants, hoping to enter the United States illegally, were aboard the vessel when it sank last Friday off Colombia's coast. Seven men and two women survived. They were rescued by a fishing boat. Investigators say the overcrowded Ecuadorean vessel had the capacity for 15 people but that as many as 120 people may have been on board. The Colombian navy has deployed an airplane and boat to search for bodies. Ecuador is also participating in the search. Officials say the doomed boat had set sail from the Ecuadorean port of Manta.

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