At lease six people have been killed and six others missing in a ferry capsizing incident in the Chindwin River in Myanmar over the weekend, the authorities confirmed Monday.

With 65 passengers on board, the private vessel YazarTun capsized near a whirlpool in the river at Kalewa on Sunday at about 5.50am (local time) en-route from Monywa to Homalin, Sagaing region, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

A total of 53 people have been initially rescued, according to the authorities.

Search and rescue operation is being done on the missing victims, the authorities added.