World News - Main

34 dead after ferry capsizes off Myanmar

15 Mar 2015 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

At least 34 people are dead after a ferry capsized off the Southeast Asia nation of Myanmar, the country's state-run daily said Saturday, citing a police source.

The state-owned passenger ferry Aung Ta Gon-3 had 214 passengers and crew on board, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar.

Myanmar's Ministry of Information said in a statement that the ship capsized Friday night as it sailed, in bad weather conditions, around the city of Sittwe. A large wave crashed into the ferry, causing it capsize near Myaybone and Myaukkyine islands.

The newspaper reported that 31 women and three men died. Authorities have managed to rescue at least 167 people, according to the information ministry for Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.

Pictures from the government showed rescue workers helping people off a boat onto the land.

Sittwe is the capital of Rakhine state and sits on the Bay of Bengal, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) from the Bangladesh border. This weekend's weather forecast for the city calls for some clouds giving way to clear skies, with high daytime temperatures expected to be in the 30s Celsius (80s to 90s Fahrenheit).

Fatal ferry disasters are nothing new to the region.

Last month, at least 68 people died when a packed double-decker ferry sank while on the Padma River north of neighboring Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, officials said. A cargo vessel hit the ferry, causing it to overturn and trapping passengers on its lower deck.

Forty-five people died in an accident on the same river in August.

In May 2013, several boats carrying as many as 150 people were thought to have capsized near Myanmar's western coast ahead of a storm approaching the area.

Those boats were carrying Rohingya, members of Myanmar's long-suffering Muslim minority, Thailand-based U.N. official Kirsten Mildren said at the time.(CNN)

World News - Main

34 dead after ferry capsizes off Myanmar

Most Popular Articles

2026 FIFA World Cup Schedule in Sri Lankan Standard Time

Former National Lotteries Board Chairperson Shyamila Perera arrested

FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarter Finals Bracket and Schedule: Road to the Final Takes Shape

Historic locomotive move between Kandy and Peradeniya without tracks

UPDATE - Death toll rises to 26, over 100 injured

Updated World Test Championship standings after West Indies’ record win over Sri Lanka

Latest News

Navy seizes over 60,000 illegal sea cucumbers, arrests 26 in Mannar

Conjoined twins successfully separated at Peradeniya

CAA raids Colombo–Jaffna train restaurant over overpriced bottled water

GMOA warns of misleading social media post

2,498 qualify for South Korean jobs