1 dead, 6 missing after Myanmar boat sinks on river in China

BEIJING – A boat from Myanmar sank on the Mekong river in southwestern China, leaving one person dead and six missing, authorities said Friday.

Seventeen others were rescued, the Yunnan provincial government said in a social media post. The ship had 24 people on board when it sank about 4 a.m. Thursday. Initial reports had said that 27 people were on the boat.

The body of one person was found downstream on the Myanmar side of the border, the Yunnan government said.

The upper section of the Mekong, called the Lancang River, runs through Tibet and Yunnan before entering Myanmar and flowing through Southeast Asia to the sea.