Two teenagers are believed to have died after their boat sank on the way to Koh Sneha Island in Kandal province’s Mok Kampoul district on Sunday.
The search for the bodies of Yoeun Sreypich and Ton Dina, both 18, continued on Monday to no avail.
Roka Korng I commune police chief Vong Sam El said the teens were part of a group of 12 people attempting to go to the island to visit one of their fiances.
“After the boat capsized, villagers tried to help the two girls but it was overloaded and the two girls could not swim either. We believe they drowned.
“Currents in the Mekong River probably sucked them under and moved the bodies to another area. It’s really hard for villagers to find them,” he said.
Sreypich’s father Yoeun Samphearak said his daughter told him she was going to go to the island to see her fiance before she left home on Sunday.
“I was shocked upon learning that her boat had sunk and her friend also drowned with her. I do not have much hope she is still alive because she could not swim,” he said.
Samphearak said he and other villagers have joined the search efforts with local authorities, but despite using oxygen tanks to look underwater and combing the sea with nets, there has been no sign of them.
Soy Se, the son of the boat owner, Sorn Soy, said the group did not heed his father’s advice.
“There were 12 people, eight men and four women. Most of them were drunk and my father refused to transport them to the island because he was afraid of an accident.
“My father moved the motor off the boat and warned them not to go to the island while under the influence of alcohol like that, but they did not listen to him.”
Se said the group put the motor back on the boat and departed for the island, noting the boat capsized shortly after their departure.
He said the boat only had the capacity for between six to 10 people.
