YANGON: Five university football players and their coach were among at least 10 people missing after a passenger ferry accident in northern Myanmar that left at least one person dead.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Saturday that 73 people were rescued in the accident in the Irrawaddy River in Kachin state.

It said the ferry developed engine trouble, drifted through rapid waters under heavy rain and hit some docked vessels before sinking Friday.

The football team members had been travelling to the Kachin state capital of Myitkyina for an inter-university tournament.

People living along Myanmar's major rivers and in the vast southern delta region often travel and transport goods by boat because of the lower cost and the inaccessibility of many areas by road.