A freighter near Amsterdam collided with a passenger ferry, capsizing the smaller vessel, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
The skipper of the ferry is missing; it is not known at this time if any passengers were aboard the ferry, which transports pedestrians across the busy Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal.
“We cannot be exactly sure, but at this moment we think there was one person on board (the passenger ferry),” Police spokesman Carine Portengen told the Daily Mail. “The first hour is crucial to save someone who is in the water... so the chances are very unlikely if he is in the water that he will be found alive.”
The cargo ship was an inland freight vessel from Germany. Police said they were questioning the captain of the German ship and he had tested negative for alcohol.
Divers were in the water this morning looking for victims. A helicopter was using infrared sensors searched for warm spots.
The collision occurred near the town of Nieuwer Ter Aa, about six miles south of Amsterdam, at around 7 a.m.
Traffic on the canal has been halted.
Swetsodv, which owns the ferry, said on its Twitter feed the boat is “out of commission.” The ferry carries only about a dozen pedestrians and no motor vehicles.
The 72-km long canal connects the port city of Amsterdam to the Rhine, a major European shipping artery.
The skipper of the ferry is missing; it is not known at this time if any passengers were aboard the ferry, which transports pedestrians across the busy Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal.
“We cannot be exactly sure, but at this moment we think there was one person on board (the passenger ferry),” Police spokesman Carine Portengen told the Daily Mail. “The first hour is crucial to save someone who is in the water... so the chances are very unlikely if he is in the water that he will be found alive.”
The cargo ship was an inland freight vessel from Germany. Police said they were questioning the captain of the German ship and he had tested negative for alcohol.
Divers were in the water this morning looking for victims. A helicopter was using infrared sensors searched for warm spots.
The collision occurred near the town of Nieuwer Ter Aa, about six miles south of Amsterdam, at around 7 a.m.
Traffic on the canal has been halted.
Swetsodv, which owns the ferry, said on its Twitter feed the boat is “out of commission.” The ferry carries only about a dozen pedestrians and no motor vehicles.
The 72-km long canal connects the port city of Amsterdam to the Rhine, a major European shipping artery.