Rescuers were desperately searching for five people still missing on Sunday after 37 were killed when a boat capsized in one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations.
The tourist boat ferrying families around Vietnam’s famed Ha Long Bay was lashed by a storm on Saturday in one of the UNESCO World Heritage site’s deadliest disasters.
The “Wonder Sea” vessel was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members when it capsized because of sudden heavy rain, the VNExpress news site said.
Most of those on board were families visiting from the capital Hanoi, with more than 20 children among the passengers, it said.
Border guards had rescued 11 people and recovered 34 bodies by Saturday evening, it added.
Overnight three crew members’ bodies were found in the cabin and rescue efforts continued into Sunday morning to find the five people still missing.
One of the rescued, a 10-year-old boy, told state media outlet VietnamNet: “I took a deep breath, swam through a gap, dived then swam up, I even shouted for help, then I was pulled up by a boat with soldiers on”.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent his condolences on Saturday to the families of the deceased and called on the defence and public security ministries to conduct urgent search and rescue.
Authorities would “investigate and clarify the cause of the incident and strictly handle violations”, a government statement said.
Tran Trong Hung, a resident in the Ha Long Bay area, told AFP: “The sky turned dark at around 2:00 pm.”বিস্তারিত