Passengers Making Pilgrimage Drown
A ship overcrowded with 125 religious pilgrims sank after crashing into a sandbank in the Acara River. At least 25 people drowned. The ship was carrying 125 people, 45 more than it was meant to hold, police spokesman Lt. Carlos Alberto Reis said by telephone from Belem. Reis said 22 bodies had been recovered by nightfall, but the number of victims could not be determined immediately because of poor communications. The pilgrims were traveling from Belem to Acara, 60 miles away, for celebrations paying homage to the Virgin of Nazareth.
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