Dozens of people are missing after a junta vessel carrying more than 100 passengers sank in the Chindwin River, near Mauk Ka Taw village in Mingin Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday.
Locals said the boat was part of a military flotilla comprising two battleships and 11 barges that has been ferrying junta reinforcements and supplies to Homanin Township in upper Chindwin for the past two months.
The boat was carrying soldiers, teachers, students and pro-junta militia Pyu Saw Htee militia from Taung Pyu Pan Sat village when it capsized near Mauk Ka Taw village at around 11 am, according to a Mingin Township resistance group.
Also among the passengers were a government department director and teachers from Kyae Taung Oo, Taung Yar Taw and Kyauk Kae Tat villages in the township. Before sinking, the vessel had been shelling targets on the riverbank, said a resistance fighter.
A Mingin resident said that only half a dozen passengers have been found alive while the rest remain missing. The vessel reportedly capsized after colliding with a rock in the river.
The helmsman escaped from the sinking boat and fled the scene, according to local reports.
“The current near Mauk Ka Taw village is very strong. The river here can only be safely navigated by an experienced person. We heard that the vessel was fully loaded,” said a Mingin resident.
The boat was making a return journey loaded with jade, he added.
Faced with continuous landmine ambushes conducted by People’s Defense Forces on roads, the junta has resorted to using rivers to transport rations, weapons and ammunition to its troops in the resistance strongholds of upper Sagaing and Kachin State.
