A Vietnamese mother and child are missing after the boat they were on, carrying 200 tonnes of iron pipes from Vietnam, sank yesterday on the Mekong River in Kandal province.

Kien Svay district police officer Rorng Se yesterday said the two missing victims were a 28-year-old mother and her 2-year-old son.

Six other passengers aboard the vessel swam to safety. The adults were all Vietnamese nationals employed by the Vietnamese owner of the boat.

The boat arrived at Banteay Dek commune around 5:30pm on Sunday, Se said. However, at 3am, when those onboard were sleeping, the water level fell low enough that the boat hit the riverbed and broke apart.

“Until now we have not found the two missing people, and both the boat and the 200 tonnes of iron have not yet been retrieved,” Se said.

Local villager Yu Lem had purchased the iron from a Vietnamese supplier, Se said. The metal had not been taken off the boat because it was raining at the time it arrived.

Two people died last Wednesday when a