The Karen National Union (KNU) has recently paid compensation to a woman whose daughter drowned in an accident on the Zemi River, says a survivor. The woman, who will eventually be compensated by the boat owner, received a 0.6 million kyat temporary payment from KNU officials at the Kyunchaung gate. The payment was made by the KNU because the owner could not immediately pay the woman.

The boat, which had seven passengers and a crew of two, sank on October 19th. Seventy bags of rice and three other passengers are missing in addition to the drowning victim, who was less than two years old. According to the survivor, the accident occurred when passengers panicked after the crew overcorrected a steering mistake, turning the boat broadside against the current.

The accident occurred two miles beyond the Kyunchaung gate, five hours from Three Pagodas Pass. The gate is controlled by the KNU, who subsequently take responsibility for any boat they let pass. A Mon trader in Three Pagodas Pass explained that this is the usual practice; if the boat had passed through a New Mon State Party (NMSP) gate before sinking, the NMSP would provide compensation if the owner could not immediately pay.

This is not the first accident on the Zemi River this year, the trader said, but it is the first time he had heard of anyone being killed. The boat owner will also have to pay compensation for the lost rice, the trader added, but no payment has been made because owner of the rice is still missing.

The Zemi River is the primary rainy-season route used by migrant workers entering Thailand from Mon State and southern Karen State. According to a recent HURFOM report, one hundred and fifty to two hundred people a day have been traveling to Thailand using the river. The numbers cited by HURFOM were based upon interviews with agents responsible for transporting migrants as well as sources within the NMSP.