Authorities launch criminal investigation after passenger list – showing more than 100 passengers – was found to be inaccurate, complicating rescue efforts A massive search-and-res…

Authorities launch criminal investigation after passenger list – showing more than 100 passengers – was found to be inaccurate, complicating rescue efforts A massive search-and-rescue operation is under way after a ferry sank ⁠off the coast of Guyana in South America ⁠late on Saturday, in what has been described by officials as one of the country’s worst maritime disasters. Authorities launched a criminal investigation after a government official said the captain and a crew member of the ferry allegedly tested positive for marijuana and the vessel’s passenger manifest was found to be inaccurate. Authorities had previously said that there were 116 passengers and 17 crew members on board – as stated on the ship’s manifest – and confirmed that there was no mechanical problem and the vessel had been operating within its legal limits. But speaking at a press conference alongside the country’s prime minister late on Sunday, Juan Edghill, Guyana’s minister of public works, told reporters the manifest was wrong after it was discovered that only 35 of 67 people rescued so far were on the passenger list. The captain and the first engineer, both of whom allegedly tested positive for cannabis, are now in police custody. “I am outraged. We are talking about operational breaches; people will be dealt with,” Edghill said at a press conference in Georgetown on Sunday night. The ferry MV Barima left Georgetown, the capital of the English-speaking South American country, on Saturday at about 3.15pm for Port Kaituma, located in the oil-rich Essequibo region and just off the border with Venezuela.