Nine dead after Colombia tourist boat sinks in reservoir

At least nine people have died and dozens are missing after a tourist boat carrying 170 people sank in a reservoir in north-west Colombia, near the city of Medellín, officials have said.

Authorities did not yet say what caused the four-deck Almirante to go down in the El Penol reservoir in the tourist town of Guatape, where Colombian and foreign tourists take leisure cruises.

An official in the National Risk Management Unit, Carlos Ivan Marquez, confirmed with AFP news agency that the victims were "all Colombians, and no minors."

Authorities did not immediately confirm how many people had been rescued but the injured were being treated in the local hospital. Colombian air force helicopters were dispatched and stood ready to evacuate the most seriously injured.

Later, Margarita Moncada, the head of disaster relief for Antioquia province, told journalists that 99 people were rescued.

"At the moment we have nine people found dead. Another 99 people were rescued immediately and 40 more got out on their own," she said.

Videos posted on social media showed motorboats coming to the aid of passengers on the upper decks as the boat rocked from side to side.

Rescued passengers said they had not been provided with life vests when they boarded the vessel.

Jorge Hernando Nieto, Colombia’s national police chief, told local radio that at least 28 people had been reported missing in the accident.

Survivors on local television reports said they heard a loud noise before the boat began to sink and that not all of them had life jackets. Rescue operations were ongoing.

The large reservoir, about an hour from the central city of Medellin, is a popular tourist destination.