As volunteer searchers found the bodies of six more victims of the Aung Takon 3 ferry disaster over the weekend, the Amyotha Hluttaw agreed to set up a Union-level inquiry into the sinking.
The death toll now stands at 69, though searchers believe many more bodies are still trapped in the sunken vessel off the coast of Rakhine State.
Members of the Duwunkyel philanthropic organisation, based in Kyaukpyu township, Rakhine State, began their search on March 14, the day after the ferry sank. On March 20 they found the body of a child, and five more bodies on March 22, and buried them all.
Duwunkyel announced yesterday that they would pay a K200,000 reward for the discovery of further remains.
“None of the six we found most recently were claimed by families. Some bodies have been washed up on the beaches of Kyaukpyu township,” said Ko Tun Kyi, secretary of Duwunkyel. He added that he had not seen any government officials searching.
The regional authorities said they had postponed the search because of bad weather.
Although the Rakhine State government has announced that it would pay compensation to the families of the deceased and to the survivors, the recovery teams claimed that the government had taken no responsibility for the disposition of the remains.
A survivor of the disaster, Ko Tun Win, said he believed many more bodies could be under the water. “Most people shut themselves in their cabins while the boat was sinking,” he said.
The exact number of passengers is not known, but those who were on board the vessel when it sank say it could be up to 400. Rescuers plucked 169 people from the water after the ferry went down, but the manifest showed only 214 passengers and crew.
Monday 23 March 2015
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/13660-ferry-death-toll-increases-as-parliament-demands-inquiry.html
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