SANTIAGO – One person died and three others disappeared when a boat sank over the weekend in southern Chile’s Los Lagos region, the navy said.

The small boat was carrying five people, but only one person was rescued.

The shipwreck occurred Sunday afternoon, but the harbormaster in Quellon, located about 1,285 kilometers (nearly 800 miles) south of Santiago, was not informed until nearly 24 hours later.

“The Chilean navy activated a search and rescue operation, and the 5th Naval Zone command has made available the air and maritime resources needed to deal with the emergency,” the navy said in a statement.

The boat did not register with any of the ports in the area, making it impossible to identify who was aboard, the maritime governor of the zone, Cmdr. Claudio Figueroa, said.

“Apparently, the missing people were unable to get off the boat, which sank due to bad weather,” Figueroa told Television Nacional, or TVN.

Bad weather has hampered the search, but rescuers will continue looking for the missing people as long as the weather allows, the navy said. EFE