09 April 2017•Update: 09 April 2017
By Kyaw ye Lynn
YANGON, Myanmar
Thirty people are confirmed dead in Myanmar ferry accident as rescue workers Sunday found the remaining bodies in the country’s river delta area.
The accident took place late Friday when a cargo ship hit a wooden ferry that was carrying 60 wedding guests on the Nga Wun River near Pathein, about 117 miles (188 kilometers) west of the former capital, Yangon.
30 people were rescued and 24 bodies, mostly women and children, were recovered that night.
A local port authority official confirmed Sunday that the remaining six bodies have been recovered.
“We got 30 dead bodies in total. The deaths include 22 women and three children,” Ko Ko Naing told Anadolu Agency by phone, adding that the search effort had ended.
“According to survivors and villagers, there were exactly 60 people aboard.”
The ferry passengers were returning to a nearby village after attending a wedding ceremony in Pathein, the capital of the Ayeyawaddy region.
Both boats sank when they collided in the middle of the river. The accident was reported to have been caused by a lighthouse glitch.
Ko Ko Naing added that police arrested two people for the accident.
Boat accidents are common in Myanmar, where residents who live along the nation's long coastline and flood-prone river systems rely heavily on often-overcrowded ferries for transport.
Seventy-three people died in a ferry accident last October in the country's central region.
