GEORGETOWN, Guyana — At least 27 people have been confirmed dead, and 83 remain missing after a passenger ferry capsized off the coast of Guyana, Prime Minister Mark Phillips announced on Monday.
According to the government, 69 people have been rescued since the MV Barima overturned on Saturday night while traveling from the capital, Georgetown, to Guyana’s inland Essequibo region.
“Our focus again is on finding people,” Phillips told reporters after raising the death toll from an earlier figure of 10. “We still have hope.”
Authorities are now confident that 179 people were aboard the ferry, following earlier confusion over the number of passengers. The official passenger manifest had listed only 133 people, but Public Works Minister Juan Edghill confirmed that the document was inaccurate.
Search-and-rescue operations have been significantly expanded, with the search area increased from 400 square kilometers to 1,070 square kilometers. Local fishermen have joined emergency responders in the effort to locate survivors.
The French military has also deployed assistance from neighboring French Guiana, sending 12 divers, two doctors, and a mechanic to support the rescue mission.
Investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding the disaster after two crew members tested positive for marijuana following the incident. Prime Minister Phillips said a full investigation of the tragedy is underway.
The ferry departed Georgetown in the afternoon, and a distress call was received approximately eight hours later, according to Minister Edghill.
The MV Barima, built in 1939, was one of the country’s oldest operating ferries. It served the remote Port Kaituma route, requiring travel by sea before entering river channels through Guyana’s dense rainforest.
The tragedy has shocked the nation, which is also grappling with ongoing tensions with neighboring Venezuela over the oil-rich Essequibo region.
Rescue teams continue to search for the missing as hopes remain that more survivors will be found.