20 killed in Myanmar wedding boat crash

YANGON, Myanmar (UPDATED) – At least 20 people were killed when a boat carrying scores of wedding guests collided with a river barge in Western Myanmar, authorities said Saturday, April 8, with more feared drowned as rescuers searched for the missing.

The boat, called “Silver Star” in Burmese, sank Friday evening, April 7, in a river near Pathein, a port city west of commercial capital Yangon.

It was believed to be carrying around 60 passengers on their way home from a wedding ceremony, according to a local police officer.

Of the dead, officials said 16 were women and 4 were men.

“They were crossing to the other side of the river after attending a wedding in Pathein. Most of them were relatives from the same village,” said the policeman, who requested anonymity.

Both ships were unlit when they collided in the middle of the river, he added.

“We estimate nine people are still missing,” regional MP Aung Thu Htwe told Agence France-Presse, adding that some 30 people had been rescued alive the night before.

Local media photos showed frenzied scenes as rescuers worked in the dark Friday night to wheel stretchers away from the river and lay bodies onshore.

Authorities resumed the search operation Saturday morning, the police officer said, though no bodies had been found by midday. 

“We will do search and rescue for the whole day,” he told AFP.

Fatal boat accidents are common in Myanmar, where many people living along its flood-prone rivers rely on often overcrowded ferries for transport.

It often takes several days before all of the bodies are retrieved.

Last October 73 people, including many teachers and students, died when their packed vessel capsized in central Myanmar on the Chindwin River.

Earlier that year in April at least 21 people, including 9 children, died after their boat sank off the coast of Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine.

Around 60 people died the year before, in March 2015, when their ferry went down in the same treacherous waters off of Rakhine. – Rappler.com