MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nicaraguan soldiers and police searched Tuesday for 13 missing occupants of a boat that overturned in the Tuma River 150 miles north of Managua. Five others drowned in the accident.
The boat overturned Monday afternoon, and authorities recovered the bodies of three adults and two children.
The only survivor found among the 19 occupants was the boat operator, whose name was not available. The rest of the boat's passengers were missing Tuesday.
"We started searching very early and hope we find them lost but alive in the jungle," Gloria Lopez, a police official in the city of Matagalpa, said.
Most boats in the area are dugouts made from large tree trunks.
Matagalpa Police Capt. Diana Cindi Miranda said the boat apparently hit a rock and overturned.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox