18 people killed after boat accident off Arakan State

18 people killed after boat accident off Arakan State



YANGON: -- Eighteen Rohingya people were confirmed dead after a boat capsized on Tuesday off the coast of Thae Chaung village near Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar's Arakan State, The Irrawaddy reported.

Aye Khin Maung, a police officer in Sittwe, said the boat had departed from Sintatmaw, an internally displaced people’s (IDP) camp in Pauktaw Township. It was headed toward Sittwe, where those on board had hoped to purchase commodities before the rainy season, when travel becomes more difficult.

He described the passengers as “Bengali,” a term frequently used by local and government officials to label Arakan State’s Rohingya minority, who are denied Myanmar citizenship.

According to Aye Khin Maung, the known casualties of the accident—caused by unexpectedly large waves—included 10 children, seven women and one man. Local authorities are still attempting to locate missing people; he said that the boat held a total of 49 passengers, 12 of whom remain unaccounted for.

However, an ethnic Kaman Muslim in the Thae Chaung camp said 22 bodies had been discovered since the boating accident.

He said the victims were mostly women and children, but estimated that the boat had held not 49 passengers, but up to 75 people. Of these, he said half were still missing.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/160417


-- Thai PBS 2016-04-21