On Wednesday, the local fire service reported that eight persons were missing after a boat sank on a river near Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon.
According to its Facebook page, the boat sank on the Yangon River at roughly 8:10 a.m. local time (0145 GMT) due to a “accident”.
It did not specify what had happened or whether additional vessels were involved.
Local media stated that the boat collided with another watercraft.
The fire department said that nine of the 17 passengers on board had been rescued, while search and rescue activities were ongoing for the remaining eight.
Boat accidents are widespread in Myanmar, an impoverished country with basic transportation and loosely implemented safety rules.
Vessels transporting passengers along the coastline and rivers are frequently dangerously overcrowded, and accidents can result in astonishing death rates. It may take several days to retrieve all bodies.
In 2016, 73 persons died after their overloaded vessel capsized on the Chindwin River in central Myanmar. Many of them were instructors and pupils.