BRASILIA (Reuters) - A ferry carrying 129 passengers capsized in Brazil's coastal state of Bahia on Thursday, killing at least 22 people, the country's second fatal maritime accident this week, according to local media reports.
At least 22 bodies have been recovered, Navy Commander Flávio Almeida told the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.
A Navy spokesman confirmed to Reuters that an incident occurred, but declined to give a death toll. Efforts to reach Almeida were unsuccessful.
The ferry sent out a distress call around 8 a.m. local time while travelling between Vera Cruz and Salvador in Bahia, with the accident occurring about 200 meters from the marine terminal, Estado reported.
In a separate incident in the northern state of Pará on Tuesday, the death toll rose to 21, with five people still missing, according to a statement on the Pará state government's website on Thursday.