Laos ferry disaster: Screams for help and panic as tourists rescued from fatal sinking

People scrambled to safety as the ferry sank on the Mekong River, with a local woman and two children feared dead.

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Instead, the 30-year-old French citizen found himself among more than 140 people, mostly tourists, on a ferry that capsized in the Mekong River. All but three are thought to have made it to safety.

Videos online show a scene of chaos - people screaming for help, children crying and passengers scrambling to get their belongings.

Anthonin, who declined to give his full name, recalls seeing a mother and her two children on board the ferry - but they were nowhere to be seen on the rescue boat.

On Monday, Lao media reported that the body of a woman, named Pany Her, had been retrieved from the river. Rescuers then found the body of a one-year-old, who they believe was one of her children. Efforts to find a second child are continuing.