GEORGETOWN, July 22. /Dunyo IA/. A passenger ferry disaster off the coast of Guyana has killed 53 people, while dozens of passengers remain missing, reports Dunyo IA correspondent, citing France 24.

The vessel capsized on the evening of July 18 during a voyage from the capital, Georgetown, to the settlement of Port Kaituma. According to Guyana’s Prime Minister Mark Phillips, 76 people were rescued, but the fate of around 50 other passengers remains unknown.

Authorities clarified that 179 people were on board at the time of the tragedy. Earlier reports had indicated a lower number of passengers, which caused confusion in the data following the accident.

The ferry “MV Barima” was found on the seabed approximately 15 kilometers from the coast. One survivor said that before the sinking, he heard a loud sound, after which water began entering the vessel, and it quickly tilted.

Following the accident, authorities reported that tests conducted on the surviving captain and another crew member showed the presence of marijuana. President of Guyana Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced that an independent investigation into the causes of the tragedy would be carried out.

According to shipping services, the “MV Barima” was built in 1939. The vessel operated a route across the Atlantic Ocean and along a river to Port Kaituma, a remote settlement in the Barima-Waini region of Guyana.

Guyana is a small English-speaking country in northeaster South America with a population of around 800,000 people. The country gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1966 and is the only South American state where English has official status. It remains one of the least populated countries in the region, with a significant part of its territory covered by Amazon rainforest. The country is also involved in a long-running territorial dispute with Venezuela over the resource-rich Essequibo region, which covers about two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.