Huge search operation after passenger ferry sinks off coast of Guyana

A large search-and-rescue operation is under way off the coast of Guyana, on the northern shoulder of South America, after a passenger ferry went down late on Saturday. The Guardian reports that officials have described it as one of the worst maritime disasters in the country's history, with dozens of people still missing. Authorities have opened a criminal investigation after a government official said the captain and a crew member allegedly tested positive for marijuana, and after the vessel's passenger manifest, which listed more than one hundred people aboard, was found to be inaccurate. That inaccuracy is complicating the rescue effort, because searchers cannot be certain how many people were actually on the ferry when it sank.

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