Photo/Illutration A member of Bamar People's Liberation Army (BPLA) stands guard in territory belonging to the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), in Karen State, Myanmar, on Feb. 18. (REUTERS)

BANGKOK--Eight people were confirmed dead and almost 20 missing after a boat whose passengers included villagers fleeing from fighting in Myanmar capsized in the Andaman Sea, a rescue worker and local media said Monday.

Myanmar has been wracked by violence that began after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Opponents of military rule launched an armed resistance movement, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.

Out of the estimated 100 people the boat was carrying Sunday, about 79 have been rescued, according to a villager helping with rescue operations, adding that they were headed to the nearby coastal town of Myeik in Myanmar’s southern region of Tanintharyi from the island of Kyauk Kar, which is in an estuary leading to the sea, according to a villager helping with rescue operations.

The eight bodies recovered by Monday night include a 10-year-old child and an infant, the villager added.

Another villager had earlier said while citing initial reports that seven bodies had been recovered and 70-75 people had been onboard the boat, with 30 missing. Both villagers spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they feared being arrested by the military government. No official numbers have been released, and press accounts have varied.

The cause of the accident was unclear, but the villager who cited the lower total for those onboard said the boat, which normally carries a maximum of 30-40 passengers, was overcrowded with people and commodities, and there were strong currents in the sea, adding that most of the passengers on the boat came from where the fighting had been going on in Kyauk Kar for about a week

The crowded passenger boat set out from Kyauk Kar at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday and sank near the mouth of the estuary about 15 minutes later, the two villagers said. Kyauk Kar is about 520 kilometers (320 miles) south of Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city. It is located near other villages where fighting is taking place between the Myanmar army and pro-democracy guerrillas.

Tanintharyi has been a stronghold of the resistance. According to a report of the local research group FE5 Tanintharyi, during September, about 20 civilians were killed, 308 people were arrested by the army and about 59,000 people were displaced by the fighting in the region.

Dawei Watch, an independent online news service based in Tanintharyi, and other local media reported that fighting has intensified since last Monday in the villages of Kye and Me Laung Chaung, about 10 kilometers (7 miles) east of Kyauk Kar, after hundreds of army troops marched into them to attack local resistance fighters.

The reports also said the military launched airstrikes on Kye village on Wednesday and that many hundreds of people were fleeing to nearby villages and towns for safety.

Dawei Watch said the boat’s passengers included people who had been trapped on a highway by the fighting, as well as students.

The sea route has been the major transportation link for the area’s villages since the fighting blocked major roads. Much of the transport in Myanmar is on rivers or along the seacoast, and accidents sometimes claim dozens of lives.

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