11 dead, at least 60 missing after boat accident in Myanmar’s southernmost region

Rescue workers said 60 are missing and more than 11 bodies have been recovered after a vessel carrying more than 80 people capsized in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region on Saturday. Many of the boat’s passengers were students returning to their studies after visiting their families for Thadingyut, a Buddhist holiday marking a full moon day on the Burmese lunar calendar, according to the rescue workers and other local sources. “Around nine in the evening, the boat going to Myeik capsized near Kyauk Kar village,” said Ashin Thondara, a monk from Kyauk Kar, the boat’s point of departure. “As of this morning, we have found 11 dead bodies, while more than 60 people remain missing,” the monk continued, adding, “There was strong current, a sort of whirlpool, near the village. The boat was overloaded with both people and goods. As it turned in the whirling current, it went off balanced from all the weight and overturned.” The deceased whose bodies were recovered, some of whom were local and some of whom had been displaced by conflict in other areas of the country, included six female passengers, four males, and an infant of about three months old, according to the monk. Infant among the bodies of those killed in the boat accident (Photo: Supplied) He added that only ten were known to have survived the accident. “Buddhist ritual prayers were recited over the bodies, but they’re still at the cemetery for the moment,” Ashin Thaondara said. Kyauk Kar, located some 30 nautical miles north of Tanintharyi Region’s largest city, Myeik, is on an estuarine island and is only accessible by boat. It was widely known as a fishing and tourist destination before the coup. There have been increasing troop manoeuvres and clashes in the area in recent weeks, with fighting between the military and anti-junta forces becoming more frequent. Since October 14, the Myanmar army’s Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 101 and 103 have been engaged in operations in various villages in Palaw Township, resulting in almost daily skirmishes with local resistance groups, resistance sources said. The fighting has forced thousands of residents from six villages in the township to flee for safety, which many seeking refuge in Kyauk Kar.

11 dead, at least 60 missing after boat accident in Myanmar’s southernmost region

Of over 80 passengers on the boat, which was travelling near the coast of Palaw Township on Myanmar’s Andaman Sea coast, most were students returning to school after spending the Thadingyut holiday at home

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