YANGON, SEPT 4 – At least 20 people are missing and feared dead after a boat accident on the Mekong river in the ‘Golden Triangle’ area between Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, officials told AFP today.
The incident happened late Monday during a ‘heavy current’ in the river that separates the three countries, Manop Senakul, police chief in Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province, told AFP.
“At least 20 people are missing,” he said, adding that 16 other Myanmar nationals had been rescued.
Myanmar media reported that the boat was carrying people to Myanmar from Laos when it ran into trouble after its engine failed.
Videos uploaded to social media and verified by AFP shows people on the banks of a Laos river pulling victims out of the rushing water.
Most of the missing are from the Wa semi-autonomous region in eastern Myanmar, Nyi Rang, said a spokesman for the United Wa National Army (UWSA), to AFP.
“Further details are still unknown because we are investigating this incident in cooperation with the Lao authorities,” he said.
He did not explain in detail why those from the Wa region were traveling in the river but the incident happened near the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Laos. – AFP
