At least 20 people were killed when a boat carrying scores of wedding guests collided with a river barge at night in western Myanmar, authorities said on Saturday, with more feared drowned as rescue workers renewed their search in daylight. The boat carrying 80 passengers sank shortly after a “head on collision” with the cargo ship yesterday evening in a river near Pathein, a port city west of Yangon, the Global New Light of Myanmar said. “We estimate nine people are still missing,” regional MP Aung Thu Htwe told Agence France-Presse, adding that some 30 people had been rescued alive the night before. It was believed to be carrying around 60 passengers on their way home from a wedding ceremony, according to a local police officer. Rudimentary transport

"They were crossing to the other side of the river after attending a wedding in Pathein. Most of them were relatives from the same village,” said the police officer, who requested anonymity. Both boats were unlit when they collided in the middle of the river, he added. Local media photos showed frenzied scenes as rescuers worked in the dark yesterday night to wheel stretchers away from the river and lay bodies onshore. Authorities resumed the search operation Saturday morning, the police officer said, though no bodies had been found by midday. “We will do search and rescue for the whole day,” he told Agence France-Presse. Fatal boat accidents are common in Myanmar, where many people living along its flood-prone rivers rely on often overcrowded ferries for transport. It often takes several days before all of the bodies are retrieved. Last October 73 people, including many teachers and students, drowned when their overloaded vessel capsized in central Myanmar on the Chindwin River. In March 2015, around 60 people died after their ferry, which was carrying some 200 passengers, sank off the coast of western Rakhine state.
At least 20 people are killed when a boat carrying wedding guests collides with a river barge in western Myanmar.