Volunteer rescuers search in the sea for survivors close to the location where a boat carrying Chinese nationals sank off the coastal town of Sihanoukville, Cambodia September 23, 2022. (Cindy Liu / REUTERS)
PHNOM PENH – The death toll in an overloaded boat accident in southern Cambodia's Kandal province on Thursday night had risen to 11, and the rescue mission has completed, officials said on Saturday.
Kandal's provincial police chief Chhoeun Sochet said the 11 deceased students were eight males and three females, aged between 12 and 14
Kun Kim, first vice president of the National Committee for Disaster Management, who led the rescue operation, said the rescue efforts ended at 6:15 a.m. local time after the last body was founded.
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The accident happened in the Mekong River when the motorized boat, with 15 people aboard, including two boat crew members and 13 students, sank about 50 meters off the shore in Kandal province's Leuk Daek district.
Kandal's provincial police chief Chhoeun Sochet said the 11 deceased students were eight males and three females, aged between 12 and 14, while the four people rescued alive are two boat crew members and two students.