Toll rises to 60 in Myanmar shipwreck

Bangkok, March 15 (IANS/EFE) Toll in the Friday's shipwreck off the coast of Myanmar's western state of Rakhine has risen to 60, with dozens of people still missing, media reported Saturday.

The state-owned passenger ship 'Aung Dakun-3' went down Friday night near the municipality of Khyaukpyu while making the crossing between Taunggup and the state capital of Sittwe, the Myanmar International TV channel said.

Aboard the double-decked ship were more than 400 travelers, of whom more than 170 were rescued by the authorities and personnel of non-governmental organisations working in the area.

"I've heard they found around 60 bodies and that some 170 people have been rescued," Aung Win, a lawmaker for Myebon in Rakhine state, told the online site Eleven Myanmar.

"We're still looking for more passengers," Khin Maung Tun, a spokesman for the ship's operator Inland Water Transport, told the same portal.

Authorities pointed to the powerful waves as what possibly sank the ship.

--IANS/EFE

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