Nine children die and two go missing after boat ferrying them after English lesson sinks in Cambodia

Owners of the boat face legal charges

Mother of Son Sophat, a teen victim of a boat accident, cries by her daughter’s coffin during a funeral procession (AP)

At least nine children in Cambodia were killed and two others went missing after a boat ferrying them home from an English class capsized in the Mekong river.

Two students and two of the boat’s crew were rescued following the accident on Thursday night, while two children remained missing, police said on Friday.

The children, aged between 12 and 14, lived on an island in the river and regularly used the ferry for transportation during the monsoon season. During the dry season, the river has little or no water and can be traversed on foot.

The accident took place near the Neak Loeung bridge over the Mekong, which separates Kandal province on the western shore from Prey Veng on the east.

The ferry was overloaded and sank nearly 50m from its destination in southeastern Kandal province after it began taking in water, the police said, adding there were no life jackets on the small boat.

Local police chief Am Thou said the boat capsised as it was approaching the shore. The students were instructed to move to seats in the middle or stern of the boat but as they walked back, the boat became unbalanced and turned turtle.

He said the boat’s owners, who were also its crew, were hospitalised and will face legal action.

One of the survivors was shown in a video broadcast telling relatives that she doesn’t know how to swim well despite living near the river. When the boat was going down, she jumped out and drifted to the river’s banks, she said, according to the Associated Press.

Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen expressed his condolences through a Facebook post and urged people to be cautious during raised water levels of the river.

Boat accidents are common in south Asia.

The World Health Organisation said, according to its assessments in 2019, over 144,000 people died by drowning in the Asia Pacific region – 61 per cent of the global total.

Earlier in 2009, an overloaded ferry capsised killed at least 17 people in northeastern Cambodia.