At Least 9 Killed in Peru Boat Accident

At least nine people died and 40 others were missing Thursday in a boat accident on the Ucayali River, a tributary of the Amazon, authorities said.

Ermando Mafaldo Rios, mayor of the town of Requena, which is near the site of the accident, said nine bodies were recovered from the river after a boat with 80 people on board capsized. The vessel went down near Corocurahuayte, 500 miles northeast of Lima.

Some passengers managed to save themselves by swimming ashore or by hanging onto floating objects. Others were rescued by a small river craft that was passing by at the time of the accident, officials said.