A motor vessel with 41 pilgrims aboard was heading to a pagoda when it capsized Friday in the Tavoy River, about 390 kilometres south of Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital, the Myanmar-language Kyemon daily reported.

One man and nine women drowned, the paper said, without elaborating on the cause of the accident. Five Buddhist monks and 26 other passengers were rescued, according to the paper.

People living in Myanmar, one of the world’s poorest nations, often travel and transport goods by boats because of the lower cost. Boat accidents are common in the river deltas and the coastal regions of the devoutly Buddhist country. Passenger boats are often overcrowded with lax enforcement of safety regulations.