Yangon - A wooden river ferry carrying 176 passengers sank after colliding with a barge over the weekend in Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, leaving about 50 people dead or missing, officials said Tuesday.

The single-deck Nay Myo Tun Gyi ferry sank on Sunday evening after leaving from Pathein, capital of the Irrawaddy division, provincial officials said.

It went down in the Ngawun river, 190 kilometres west of Yangon, after colliding with an oil barge near Shan Su village in the Pathein area.

"We have found 34 bodies, with 16 still missing and 126 people rescued so far," said an official who requested anonymity. Rescue efforts were still underway Tuesday.

The delta region is connected with Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar, mainly by inland waterways that are still widely used for the transportation of goods. (dpa)