YANGON - Rescuers have recovered 11 bodies after an overloaded boat carrying around 30 people sank in the Andaman Sea off Myanmar’s southern coast, a local resident told AFP on Oct 21, with the rest of the passengers still missing.

       “We found 10 bodies last night and one this morning,” said a monk from Kyauk Kar village in southern Tanintharyi region, from where the boat had left on the evening of Oct 20.

       The boat had been carrying mostly students who were returning to Myanmar’s Myeik city from the village after a two-week break, according to the monk, who asked for anonymity to talk to the media.

       “The boat left from the village at 9pm which was too late already, and it was overloaded and sunk,” he said.

       Villagers had carried out cremations for the 11 bodies that had been recovered, he said, and local rescue teams were searching for the missing.

       None of the recovered bodies were of students, the monk said.

       Boat accidents are common in Myanmar, a country with rudimentary transport and weakly enforced safety regulations.

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       Vessels ferrying people along the coastline and rivers are often dangerously overcrowded, and accidents can have staggering death tolls. It can also take several days for all bodies to be retrieved. AFP