A survivor said foreigners were on board, and Rio morgue officials said they were calling foreign consulates to help identify bodies.
The cruise boat, a popular local sightseeing attraction called the Bateau Mouche, was taking people to see a New Year's fireworks display off famous Copacabana Beach.
''We don't know the exact cause of the sinking, but we think it was because of excess capacity,'' said Maj. Oldemiro Santos of the Rio de Janeiro State Fire Department's Maritime Group, who coordinated rescue work. He confirmed the figure of 42 dead and said perhaps 130 people had been on board.
Earlier, a radio operator for the Fire Department's Sea Rescue Service said the Bateau Mouche had collided with a private yacht, the Casa Branca. But Santos said the Casa Branca was simply one of many boats that stopped to aid Bateau Mouche victims.
Irineu Barroso, the chief of Rio's 10th Police Precinct, with jurisdiction over the bayfront neighborhood closest to the disaster, also said 42 people had drowned.
''It seems there was an excess of passengers, maybe 130 to 150 on board,'' Barroso told The Associated Press. A local radio station said the Bateau Mouche has a capacity of about 100. ''We understand the boat was told to turn back but ignored the order,'' Barroso said.
Maj. Santos said the sinking occurred at 11:45 p.m. Saturday (8:45 p.m. EST) ''in very rough seas.''
A Brazilian woman, who said she survived by hanging onto a floating table, told the privately owned Globo TV network she was with a group that included Italians and that there were other foreigners aboard.
The woman, whose name was not immediately available, also verified Barroso's statement about the order to turn back. She said Port Authority officals stopped the Bateau Mouche when it already was out on the water, seemed to be counting passengers and made the boat retrun to its bayfront mooring.
But then, she said, the cruise boat simply set out again 15 minutes later.
The Bateau Mouche makes daily sightseeing cruises across Guanabara Bay, where tourists can admire the mountain scenery that surrounds Rio.
The New Year's Eve program, widely advertised in newspapers, was to leave the bay, pass by Sugarloaf Mountain and anchor in the Atlantic Ocean off Copacabana Beach.
A fireworks display was set off at the beach at midnight Saturday.
Rio's New Year's fireworks show, in the Southern Hemisphere's summer, routinely draws 1 million people to the beach and hundreds of small craft off shore.
The Brazilian travel agency that operates the cruise boat, Itatiaia Tourism, did not answer its phone early Sunday
A survivor said foreigners were on board, and Rio morgue officials said they were calling foreign consulates to help identify bodies.The cruise boat, a popular local sightseeing attraction called the Bateau Mouche, was taking people to see a New Year's fireworks display off famous Copacabana Beach.''We don't know the exact cause of the sinking, but we think it was because of excess capacity,'' said Maj. Oldemiro Santos of the Rio de Janeiro State Fire Department's Maritime Group, who coordinated rescue work. He confirmed the figure of 42 dead and said perhaps 130 people had been on board.Earlier, a radio operator for the Fire Department's Sea Rescue Service said the Bateau Mouche had collided with a private yacht, the Casa Branca. But Santos said the Casa Branca was simply one of many boats that stopped to aid Bateau Mouche victims.Irineu Barroso, the chief of Rio's 10th Police Precinct, with jurisdiction over the bayfront neighborhood closest to the disaster, also said 42 people had drowned.''It seems there was an excess of passengers, maybe 130 to 150 on board,'' Barroso told The Associated Press. A local radio station said the Bateau Mouche has a capacity of about 100. ''We understand the boat was told to turn back but ignored the order,'' Barroso said.Maj. Santos said the sinking occurred at 11:45 p.m. Saturday (8:45 p.m. EST) ''in very rough seas.''A Brazilian woman, who said she survived by hanging onto a floating table, told the privately owned Globo TV network she was with a group that included Italians and that there were other foreigners aboard.The woman, whose name was not immediately available, also verified Barroso's statement about the order to turn back. She said Port Authority officals stopped the Bateau Mouche when it already was out on the water, seemed to be counting passengers and made the boat retrun to its bayfront mooring.But then, she said, the cruise boat simply set out again 15 minutes later.The Bateau Mouche makes daily sightseeing cruises across Guanabara Bay, where tourists can admire the mountain scenery that surrounds Rio.The New Year's Eve program, widely advertised in newspapers, was to leave the bay, pass by Sugarloaf Mountain and anchor in the Atlantic Ocean off Copacabana Beach.A fireworks display was set off at the beach at midnight Saturday.Rio's New Year's fireworks show, in the Southern Hemisphere's summer, routinely draws 1 million people to the beach and hundreds of small craft off shore.The Brazilian travel agency that operates the cruise boat, Itatiaia Tourism, did not answer its phone early Sunday
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