Rescue teams continued their search today for eight people including a child who are missing after a ferry capsized on the Yangon River in Myanmar.

The boat was carrying 17 people when it collided with a passing tugboat on the the river, close to the industrial heartland of the city at around 8am local time on July 10.

A paramedic told local media that maritime police, firefighters, rescue teams and ferry boat drivers are all searching for the missing people.

Officials said the survivors pulled from the water included two school children, the boat's pilot and six other passengers.

The city, formerly called Rangoon before the country changed its name from Burma, has become notorious for its dangerous water crossings with overcrowded boats.

In 2016, 73 locals drowned when an overloaded vessel capsized in central Myanmar on the Chindwin River.