YANGON: At least 20 people are missing, feared dead, following a boat mishap on the Mekong River in the “Golden Triangle” area between Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, officials told AFP on Wednesday (Sep 4).
The incident happened late on Monday during “strong currents” on the river that divides the three countries, Manop Senakul, the police chief in Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province, told AFP.
“At least 20 people are missing,” he said, adding that a further 16 Myanmar nationals had been rescued.
Myanmar media reported the boat had been carrying people to Myanmar from Laos when it got into difficulties after its engine failed.
Video uploaded to social media and geolocated by AFP showed people on the Laos side of the river pulling people out of the fast-flowing water.
Most of the missing are from the semi-autonomous Wa enclave in eastern Myanmar, Nyi Rang, spokesman for the United Wa State Army (UWSA), told AFP.
“Details are unknown yet as we are still investigating the incident in cooperation with (Laos) authorities,” he said.
He did not elaborate on why those from the Wa region were travelling on the river but the incident happened close to the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Laos.
