100 people missing after ferry accident in Myanmar

Rescue efforts are under way in north-western Myanmar on Monday after a ferry accident, with about 100 people reported missing. The boat, carrying over 250 civil servants, students and teachers from the local university, capsized on the Chindwin River in Sagaing region on Saturday. According to a  report from Myanmar’s minister of Social Welfare, Relief […]

Rescue efforts are under way in north-western Myanmar on Monday after a ferry accident, with about 100 people reported missing.

The boat, carrying over 250 civil servants, students and teachers from the local university, capsized on the Chindwin River in Sagaing region on Saturday.

According to a  report from Myanmar’s minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Myat Ayae, four people are reported dead, while 160 passengers have been rescued.

An eye witnesses told newsmen that the ferry was heavily overloaded.

The catastrophe occurred one day before Myanmar celebrated its Festival of Lights, an event for which families gather together.

Ferries are a popular means of transport in Myanmar, noting that in November 2015, another ferry accident on the Chindwin River left 10 people dead.