19 October 2016•Update: 21 October 2016
By Kyaw Ye Lynn
YANGON, Myanmar
Rescuers on Wednesday recovered 11 more bodies from a muddy Myanmar river, taking the death toll from a ferry sinking in the country's central region to 51.
Cranes and other heavy lifting machinery have been utilized since Tuesday to raise the 40-ton Aung Soe Moe Kyaw, which sank Saturday carrying around 300 passengers.
By 7 p.m. (1330GMT) rescuers had managed to search five of the ferry's 11 rooms.
Regional lawmaker Tun Tun Win told Anadolu Agency that the 11 bodies had been found Wednesday, taking the death toll to 51, while around 70 people are still missing.
Many of those on board were university students, teachers and civil servants returning home for a Buddhist festival.
Earlier, Tun Tun Win said that the tail part of the boat had been raised Tuesday, leading to the discovery of five other corpses.
He added that rescuers were being hampered by the smell of what remained inside.
“More dead bodies have been seen in that part."
The Aung Soe Moe Kyaw capsized Saturday on Chindwin River in the country's central Sagaing region.
Preliminary reports have indicated it may have hit a rock as it approached a village.
According to local media, the boat was overloaded when it left Homalin for Monywa town, about 130 kilometers (80.7 miles) west of Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar.
Police have said that although 154 passengers have been rescued, there may have been as many as 300 aboard, far above the authorized limit.
Local police officer Htein Lin has told Anadolu Agency that four crew had been detained after the incident.
“Crews confessed that the ferry was also carrying too heavy a cargo,” he said.
Boat accidents are common in Myanmar, where people living along the nation's long coastline and flood-prone river systems rely heavily on often-overcrowded ferries for transport.
