20 Missing After Boat Capsizes in Swollen Mekong River

[snoop1130]

 

Tragedy struck on the Mekong River Monday evening as a long-tailed boat with 40 passengers from Myanmar capsized. The boat, crossing from Laos to Tachileik in Myanmar, faced swift currents after its engine failed.

 

Rescuers swiftly arrived, saving 20 passengers, but 20 remain missing. The incident occurred near Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, adding urgency to the ongoing search.

 

 

 

 

Witnesses recount that the boat's engine failure left it vulnerable to the swollen river's strong currents. The search for the missing continues today, with rescue teams determined to find the remaining passengers.

 

File photo for reference only

 

-- 2024-09-03

 

 

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[richard_smith237]

Another ferry boat disaster.

Another bus down a ravine.

Another lorry break failure.

Another family killed by a drunk driver.

Another child drowns.

Another pitbull attack.

Another psycho on yabaa kills his mate / family member.

 

 

Wash, rinse, repeat….    Do nothing about the issues….

 

To be fair the UK does nothing about its issues either so it’s somewhat hypocritical of me to judge - it’s just sad to read if so many avoidable deaths here…

 

… & continuing to see that those in positions of authority seem not to care at all. 

[Georgealbert]

This video shows the accident as it occurred and the passengers being swept down stream in the fast moving current, as local boat attempt to rescue them.

 

Chiang Saen Police Station has deployed officers to keep an eye on the banks of the Mekong River on the Thai side to help find the missing people.

 

[hotchilli]

No mention of life jackets?

[fredwiggy]

Over 90% of worldwide drownings happen in Africa and SE Asia. Thailand itself has over 3600 a year. Caring for your children means teaching them to swim, which isn't something done here as far as I've seen. I know many adults here that can't swim. The Mekong isn't a fast moving river and all the people needed to do was to tread water, something taught first in swimming. Unless they were knocked unconscious, all of them should have been saved.

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Over 90% of worldwide drownings happen in Africa and SE Asia. Thailand itself has over 3600 a year. Caring for your children means teaching them to swim, which isn't something done here as far as I've seen. I know many adults here that can't swim. The Mekong isn't a fast moving river and all the people needed to do was to tread water, something taught first in swimming. Unless they were knocked unconscious, all of them should have been saved.

Sorry Fred, but you're wrong, the rivers are all crazy fast at the moment after 2 weeks of constant rain.

[fredwiggy]

10 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Sorry Fred, but you're wrong, the rivers are all crazy fast at the moment after 2 weeks of constant rain.

Better to research before posting Brit. I'm a water enthusiast, and know full well how drownings happen. SE Asia is one of the worst drowning locations on earth. People aren't taught to do much here, let alone swim, and the Mekong isn't white water. Half of the people survived because they either knew how to swim or how to tread water. The river is moving like it usually does this season., which as you can see from the video, isn't fast. You can move along in a very fast moving river if you know how to swim, until you reach shore. I'm guessing the half that died , drowned immediately here.

Edited September 3 by fredwiggy

[mfd101]

12 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Another ferry boat disaster.

Another bus down a ravine.

Another lorry break failure.

Another family killed by a drunk driver.

Another child drowns.

Another pitbull attack.

Another psycho on yabaa kills his mate / family member.

 

 

Wash, rinse, repeat….    Do nothing about the issues….

 

To be fair the UK does nothing about its issues either so it’s somewhat hypocritical of me to judge - it’s just sad to read if so many avoidable deaths here…

 

… & continuing to see that those in positions of authority seem not to care at all. 

Population-control measures vary from one country to another.