News Digest

21 dead, dozens missing after Myanmar ferry sinks in bad weather

Rescuers were frantically searching for survivors on Saturday after an overloaded ferry sank in rough waters off the coast of western Myanmar killing at least 21 and leaving dozens more missing. The “Aung Takon 3” went down late Friday after leaving the town of Kyaukphyu on its way to Sittwe in western Rakhine state, police said. “We have got 21 dead bodies, two men and 19 women. About 26 passengers are still missing,” a police officer in Sittwe town said. He added 167 people had been rescued.

We suspect that the boat sank because it was overloaded with goods.

A police officer in Sittwe town, who added that the ship was thought to be carrying more than 200 passengers

Locals said they feared the ferry was packed with unregistered ticket holders who would not have shown up on the ship’s manifest, a common practice on the impoverished nation’s often overcrowded ferry network. “We don’t know how many are still missing because some people were on board without official tickets,” Hla Shwe, a local from Ngaputhone village, which lies a few miles away from where the ship went down, said. Local MP Maung Lone added. “There are many dead bodies which didn’t appear yet. We estimate about 300 people were on board.” Three navy boats and a host of private vessels were sent to scour the area after news emerged that the ferry had sunk shortly after 8.30pm local time.