YANGON:  , At least 20 people are missing, following a boat mishap on the Mekong River in the” Golden Triangle” area between Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, officials told AFP on Wednesday ( Sep 4).
The incident happened late on Monday during” solid voltages” on the river that divides the three states, Manop Senakul, the police chief in Thailand’s north Chiang Rai state, told AFP.
” At least 20 people are missing”, he said, adding that a deeper 16 Myanmar citizens had been rescued.
The vessel, according to Myanmar press, had been bringing people from Laos to Myanmar when it ran into trouble after its engine failed.
People on the Laos side of the river were seen pulling people out of the fast-flowing liquid in a film that was uploaded to social media and geolocated by AFP.
Most of the missing are from the semi-autonomous Wa enclave in eastern Myanmar, Nyi Rang, spokesman for the United Wa State Army ( UWSA ), told AFP.
” Details are unknown yet as we are still investigating the incident in cooperation with ( Laos ) authorities”, he said.
Although he did not provide specifics about why people from the Wa region were crossing the river, the incident occurred close to Laos ‘ Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone ( SEZ ).