A BOAT being used for a religious trip capsized in the Chao Phraya River yesterday afternoon, claiming at least 13 lives, injuring 19 others and leaving dozens of others unaccounted for.
The accident took place at around 4pm in Ayutthaya province, when the overcrowded Sombatmongkonchai boat smashed into a pole in front of the Sanam Chai Temple after avoiding a collision with a large cargo boat.
The vessel, designed to carry 50 passengers, had more than 150 passengers on board at the time of the accident, according to some estimates.
"Many passengers tried to jump out of the boat and scrambled towards the shore, which was about three to five metres away," Annop Kudeephan, a 50-year-old survivor, recounted.
He estimated that the boat must have been carrying more than 100 passengers at the time of the accident.
All the passengers had attended an annual Muslim ritual at the Takia Yokin Mosque in Ayutthaya earlier in the day. Police said rescue workers rushed to help passengers.
Among the deceased was a boy as young as three years old.