Overloaded boat kills 11 migrant workers

Mon Son, IMNA

11 migrant workers die after boat, filled beyond capacity, tries to cross to Thailand with 19 passengers.

On Friday, May 15th an 11 person boat sank after the broker, transporting migrant workers to Ranaung, Thailand, added an additional 8 passengers. The boat sank about 8:30 AM near Mwei Island on Burmese territory. Among the dead were 6 women and 5 men who came from upper Burma, in Kawthoung Township, according to sources.

“At first the broker told 11 migrant workers to go with the boat. But later the broker added an additional 8 migrants, although the boat owner explained that it wouldn’t be able to carry 19 passengers. So the boat sank after they left Mwei Island,” said a resident from Kawthoung Township.

The Kawthoung broker was on Mwei Island when the boat was sinking. He had been waiting with an additional 50 migrant workers to transport by boat to Thailand.

“After they departed from the island, the boat sank in a few minutes,” explained the Kawthoung township resident. “The boat owner and other migrant workers tried to save them, but only managed to rescue 8 people and the body a migrant who had drowned. At the time 10 people were still missing.

“The broker then fled with the surviving 8 migrant workers the rest of the way to Ranaung, Thailand. Search and rescue forces said on Sunday that they had recovered 10 dead bodies from the river and sent them to Kawthoung township hospital, where they were incinerated. ID’s found on the recovered bodies confirmed them as the dead migrant workers, and that they were from upper Burma.

Many Burmese migrant workers try to enter in Thailand after April. Not all migrant workers enter Thailand via the border of Kawthoung in Tanintharyi divison to Ranaung, but also cross from Myawaddy to Mae-Sot way and Three Pagoda Pass to Kanchanaburi division. Another Kawthoung resident said, “After the boat sank, the authorities from Naypyidaw police department began an inquiry into the drowning of the migrant workers. They are currently investigating the boat owner and boat driver.”

The broker, who had initially insisted on overloading the boat, has thus far escaped investigation as Ranaung is outside the Naypyidaw police jurisdiction.