Photo: The IRC
On November 11 in Thin Gan Gone, a village on Middle Island in the western part of the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar, people from neighboring villages packed the markets to buy food, flowers and candle offerings, to celebrate a special religious holiday marking the full moon called Tazaungmone. One of the main ways to get around the area is by boat.
Aung Gyi, IRC program manager, and Win Naing, ("Tu Tu"), IRC hygiene promoter, took off that morning with Kyaw Win, IRC boat driver, on a rented boat to a village called Koe Daung to distribute household kits (including mosquito nets, blankets, jerry cans and cooking utensils), to people affected by Cyclone Nargis, which struck the area in May. They thought the trip would last 90 minutes.
As the IRC boat progressed down the Thet Kaw Thaung River, it began overtaking an overcrowded passenger boat. Suddenly, while it was still some 30 meters ahead, the passenger boat began veering to the port (left) side, and then flipped over, sending more than 50 people into the river.
"All the passengers were scattered in the river swimming or trying to grab the boat, which started sinking," Aung says. "Women and children were crying and young men were cursing their boat driver."
Kyaw switched off the IRC's boat engine so the propeller would not injure people in the water. Then he shouted a warning to call attention to his approach and steered the IRC's boat toward the sinking vessel, which was encircled with desperate people clinging for their lives.
"As we approached the floating victims and stopped," Aung says, "they all came close and grabbed onto our boat. Tu Tu, Kyaw and I offered our hands to everyone we could reach. The very first person pulled into our boat was a mother who tightly clutched her baby."
Aung also managed to use his mobile phone to call Swe Swe Kyaw, IRC field officer, at the IRC's office in Thin Gan Gone. Swe Swe immediately informed local authorities and villagers about the situation, asking for help.
The IRC's boat started to become overloaded after taking on some 30 people. Kyaw warned everyone to sit still and started the engine, heading for a muddy river bank 100 meters away. There the rescued passengers were asked to jump into a shallow area of water so the IRC boat could return to help the remaining victims.
A saved young girl at MGB hospital Photo: The IRC
The IRC vessel turned around and headed back to the middle of the river. By then some young men had managed to turn the sinking boat back over and rescue some of the passengers trapped underneath.
"Tu Tu found an unconscious seven-year-old girl face down in the boat, and quickly used a first aid technique to resuscitate her," Aung says. "After trying hard two or three times, the girl coughed, vomited and started breathing again. She was alive."
Soon more boats from Thin Gan Gone arrived, thanks to the call for help made by Swe Swe. Some elderly men and women were placed in a speed boat to be transported to Ma Gyi Bin Station hospital, which, as it happens, was being renovated by the IRC.
"Tu Tu also tried, unsuccessfully, to revive a five-year-old boy, so he transferred him to the speed boat going to the hospital," Aung says. Then the IRC team turned and continued on down the river to complete their mission to distribute household kits to Koe Daung village. The IRC team hoped, but did not know if all passengers survived the accident.
As it turned out, the five-year-old boy that Tu Tu helped did survive, but unfortunately, two elderly women and one young boy died.
However, thanks to the quick response by the IRC's team, 56 out of the 59 passengers survived.
"Having been on that river and seen the rough currents caused by the tide as well as the fresh water coming down from the Himalayas, there is no doubt in my mind that many more people would have died had it not been for the actions of the IRC team," said Gordon Bacon, IRC regional advisor in Sri Lanka, who started IRC programs in Myanmar, in a message to colleagues.
