At least 20 people were killed when a boat carrying scores of wedding guests collided with a river barge in Western Myanmar, authorities said on Saturday.
The boat, called “Silver Star” in Burmese, sank Friday evening in a river near Pathein, a port city west of commercial capital Yangon, local police told media.
It was believed to be carrying around 60 passengers on their way home from a wedding ceremony. Of the dead, there were 16 women and 4 men.
“They were crossing to the other side of the river after attending a wedding in Pathein. Most of them were relatives from the same village,” a policeman was quoted by AFP as saying.
Fatal boat accidents are common in Myanmar due to rudimentary transport and weakly-enforced safety regulations.
In October 2016, 73 people, including many teachers and students, drowned when their overloaded vessel capsized in central Myanmar on the Chindwin River.
