7 dead, at least 30 missing in Myanmar after boat carrying people who fled fighting capsized

BANGKOK -- Seven people are confirmed dead and more than 30 are missing after a boat whose passengers included villagers fleeing from fighting in Myanmar capsized in the Andaman Sea, a rescue worker and local media said Monday.

About 30 people have been rescued from the boat, which on Sunday was carrying an estimated 70-75 people to the nearby coastal town of Myeik in Myanmar’s southern region of Tanintharyi from the island of Kyauk Kar, which is in an estuary leading to the sea, according to a villager helping rescue operations.

The crowded passenger boat set out from Kyauk Kar at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday and sank near the mouth of the estuary about 15 minutes later, said the villager, speaking to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because he feared being arrested by the military

The cause of the accident was unclear, but the villager said the boat, which normally carries a maximum of 30-40 passengers, was overcrowded with people and commodities, and there were strong currents in the sea.

Kyauk Kar is about 520 kilometers (320 miles) south of Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city. It is located near other villages where fighting is taking place between the Myanmar army and pro-democracy guerrillas. Most of the passengers on the boat came from where the fighting had been going on for about a week, the villager said.

Myanmar is wracked by violence that began after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Opponents of military rule launched an armed resistance movement, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.

Tanintharyi region has been a stronghold of the resistance. According to a report of the local research group FE5 Tanintharyi, during September about 20 civilians were killed, 308 people were arrested by the army and about 59,000 people were displaced by the fighting in Tanintharyi region.

Dawei Watch, an independent online news service based in Tanintharyi, and other local media have reported that fighting has intensified since last Monday in the villages of Kye and Me Laung Chaung, about 10 kilometers (7 miles) east of Kyauk Kar, after hundreds of army troops marched into them to attack local resistance fighters.

The reports also said the military launched airstrikes on Kye village on Wednesday and that many hundreds of people were fleeing to nearby villages and towns for safety.

Dawei Watch said the boat's passengers include people who had been trapped on a highway by the fighting, as well as students.

The sea route has been the major transportation link for the area’s villages since the fighting blocked major roads. Much transport in Myanmar is on rivers or along the sea coast, and accidents sometimes claim dozens of lives.