Vientiane, May 26 (IANS): Ten elementary school children were reported missing and were feared drowned in Laos after the boat they were travelling in capsized in a major Mekong tributary on Tuesday morning, according to police.

It is believed the 10 were among 35 fifth-grade students, four teachers and a single crew member on board when their ferry capsized while attempting to cross the Nam Ngum river in Pak-Ngum district, some 60 km from the country's capital Vientiane, Xinhua news agency reported.

It is reported that none of the passengers was wearing lifejacket and the boat in question was rated for a maximum capacity of 15 persons.

The group was reportedly on its way to a venue across the river to take examinations.

Earlier reports of the suspected drowning came through the popular domestic social media service "Tholakhong" which named the missing.

According to the report, it was the group's failure to turn up for examinations that sparked the search.

The safety of Laos's river transport hit international headlines last month with the drowning of a British citizen, Johanna Powell.

Powell, an employee of BBC Wales, was killed when the ferry carrying her and other tourists broke apart on rapids after departing the river port town of Pakbeng bound for the popular tourist site and Unesco World Heritage-listed town of Luang Prabang on April 11.