YANGON: At least 20 people were killed when a ferry carrying dozens of passengers capsized in Myanmar's southwestern Irrawaddy delta late Friday, local media reports said on Saturday. The accident occurred around 7:30pm local time when the ferry Ngwe Kyare Pwint, carrying around 60 passengers returning to a village from a wedding held in Pathein, the largest city in the Irrawaddy region, collided with cargo barge and sank into the Nga Wun river, an Irrawaddy tributary, soon after departing from Pathein, the reports said. Twenty bodies -- four male and 16 female -- had been recovered as of Saturday morning while 22 people -- 18 men and four women -- were rescued alive, according to local authorities engaged in the search and rescue operation. With passenger ferries often ignoring safety procedures, boat accidents are fairly common in Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, where the population relies on waterways as the chief means of transport.

Source: Bangkok Post April 08, 2017 08:03 UTC