Eleven students died in southern Cambodia after their boat capsized while crossing a river, according to officials.
Two students and two members of the boat’s crew were rescued after the accident on the Mekong River southeast of Phnom Penh on Thursday night, according to police.
The body of a missing 14-year-old boy was discovered Saturday morning, according to Maj. Gen. Chhoeun Sochet, chief of the Kandal provincial police, on his Facebook page.
The students, aged 12 to 14, were on their way back from an English class. They lived on an island in the river and, like the rest of their village, took the ferry almost every day during the rainy season. During the dry season, the river has little or no water and can be walked across.
According to the police chief, the boat was overloaded and lacked life jackets.
The accident happened near the Neak Loeung bridge over the Mekong, which separated Kandal province on the western shore from Prey Veng province on the eastern shore at the time. The bridge is part of Route 1, a major road that connects Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The police chief in Kandal’s Leuk Daek district, Am Thou, said the accident occurred as the boat was approaching the shore. It took on water in the bow, and the students were instructed to move to seats in the middle or stern of the boat.
The boat, however, became unbalanced and turned over as they walked back.
One of the survivors, 12-year-old Ry Chanbora, was shown in a video broadcast online by Swift News telling relatives that despite living near the river, she doesn’t know how to swim well. She claimed that as the boat began to sink, she jumped out, attempted to swim with her face up, and drifted to the river’s bank.
Provincial officials paid the girl a visit, and King Norodom Sihamoni expressed condolences and prayers for the victims’ families on his royal Facebook page. Prime Minister Hun Sen also expressed his condolences via Telegram.
“May I urge all the people, especially the people who live along the river, to pay the highest care during this flooding period,” he said, referring to the recent heavy rains that possibly contributed to the accident.
Am Thou, the police chief, said the boat’s two operators were hospitalised after the accident and would face legal action. He didn’t say what charges they’d be facing.
According to World Health Organization estimates, more than 144,000 drowning deaths occurred in the Asia Pacific region in 2019, accounting for 61% of the global total.
“Of the 70,000 drowning deaths in the WHO South-East Asia Region in 2019, more than 33% were among children aged under 15 years,” said the U.N. agency. “On average, men were three to four times more likely to drown than women.”
