PHNOM PENH, Oct 15 (NNN-AKP) – Ten students were confirmed dead and one was missing, after a motorised boat accident, on the Mekong River, in southern Cambodia’s Kandal province, a senior police official said, yesterday.
The accident occurred Thursday evening, at around 7:00 p.m. local time, when the boat, with 15 people on board, including two boat crew members and 13 students, sank, about 50 metres off the shore, in Leuk Daek district, said Kandal police chief, Chhoeun Sochet.
“By yesterday afternoon, 10 bodies had been recovered, while four survivors, two students and two crew members, were rescued,” he told reporters. “Rescue efforts for the one missing are still going on.”
The accident happened, when the boat ferried the students from an English class to their homes, on an island village, Sochet said, adding that, high speed, overloading and neglect driving were blamed for the accident.
According to the Kandal Provincial Police’s report, the ill-fated students were aged between 12 and 14 years.
On social media, Cambodian Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, expressed his condolences and urged people living along the rivers to be extra vigilant, particularly during the flood season.– NNN-AKP