At least 50 people were believed to have drowned off Burma when a ferry sank in bad weather, Burmese government officials said.

The boat had 209 people on board when it ran into high seas late on Friday on a voyage from the coastal town of Taunggok to Sittwe, capital of the west coast state of Rakhine.

“Twenty bodies have been found . . . Rescue workers are looking for [the missing],” Pyay Nyein, a senior official from the inland water transport department, told reporters.

A ministry of transport official said the overcrowded boat was swamped by huge waves and that 167 people had been saved, though the missing were believed to be dead.

Unregistered passengers

Residents in Taunggok said they believed the death toll was higher as the ferry, which they identified as the government-owned Aung Tagun-3, would have been crowded with many unregistered passengers.

“Normally, the number of tickets sold is not reliable when it comes to the number of passengers. That’s very common,” a Taunggok merchant said.

“We understand the chances of finding [the missing] in this weather are very slim.”

Reuters