A tanker has caused this Friday the sinking of a passenger ferry in the Mississippi River, near the port of New Orleans, with no evidence of fatalities at the moment.
The tanker "Atlantic Asphalt" collided with the ferry "American Heritage" around midday, local time, for reasons that are still under investigation. The passenger vessel was moored at the moment of the impact, very close to the shore of the city’s historic French Quarter, and it sank in just a few seconds.
Officials of the port authority have told the local station WAFB that 129 people were aboard the ferry, not including the crew. However, they have specified that the ship had been docked for about two hours before the collision, so it is being considered that some of the passengers may have already left the vessel.
The lieutenant governor of Louisiana, Billy Nungesser, has told the WWLTV station that fewer than 85 people managed to disembark before the accident and that more than a dozen have been rescued after the sinking.
The governor of the state, Jeff Landry, has been informed about the accident and is heading immediately to the area, while the emergency management authorities (NOLA Ready) have ordered the immediate suspension of ferry service and have begun search and rescue operations.