No survivors expected after Peru riverbank collapse; up to 57 missing

No survivors are expected from the riverbank collapse at a remote port in the Peruvian Amazon, with estimates ranging from 20 to as many as 57 people missing, according to regional authorities. The death toll currently stands at 10.

The update was provided on Tuesday, one day after the collapse at the port of Iparía in eastern Peru. Disaster management agencies said 57 people remain missing, though regional governor Manuel Gambini told local media he believes the actual number is likely between 20 and 30.

Gambini said recovery teams are searching the river for bodies. “At this point, survivors are impossible,” he said. The governor said 18 people were rescued in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

Authorities said the collapse occurred around 5 a.m. on Monday at the port of Iparía, a rural transit point in the Ucayali region where boats from Pucallpa and nearby communities routinely unload passengers and cargo.

The riverbank gave way and dragged several small passenger boats underwater, carrying farmers, Indigenous families, teachers, health workers, and residents traveling to settlements along the upper Ucayali River.