Two students drown in Kyaukphyu’s Ngalapwae Creek

By Admin 10 Jul 2023

DMG Newsroom
10 July 2023, Kyaukphyu

The bodies of two missing students who drowned in Ngalapwae Creek, part of Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, were recovered on Monday morning, according to family members.

The two students, identified as Maung Nyi Ko Win and Maung Win Min Oo from Ngalapwae Ward in Kyaukphyu, went missing after they were known to have gone swimming in Ngalapwae Creek on July 8. Their bodies were discovered two days later.

“They [the two victims] together with two others went to Taungshae Village to hunt birds. The two of them drowned and disappeared on their way back from that village, and their bodies were found today,” said Daw Hla Sae Kay, an aunt of Maung Wai Min Oo.

She added that two friends who came with the two victims attempted to rescue them as they were in distress and appeared at risk of drowning, but had to give up as their strength gave out. One of the would-be rescuers, Nga Pyue Taung, fell unconscious on the spot and was being treated at Kyaukphyu Hospital.

As soon as residents heard that two students were missing, they informed the township Red Cross Society and local charities, who conducted search and rescue operations, but the bodies of the two students were not found until Monday.

“We conducted a search operation until that night, but we didn’t find them. We only discovered their bodies on the morning of July 10. A funeral service is being planned to bury the dead bodies,” said U Nyi Nyi Win, the father of Maung Nyi Ko Win.

Maung Nyi Ko Win, a Grade 7 student, and Maung Wai Min Oo, a Grade 8 student, are students from a middle school. Their bodies were buried in Kyaukphyu Myoma Cemetery on July 10.

The place where the two drowned is near the confluence of Ngalapwae Creek and a tributary of the Taungyin Ward and Taungshae Village. According to local residents, there have been frequent drownings in the past due to strong currents.