Tourist boat capsizes in Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, leaving dozens dead

A 10-year-old boy has miraculously survived a deadly boat capsizing which killed more than 30 visitors.

A tourist boat ferrying families around Vietnam’s world famous Ha Long Bay capsized in a storm on Saturday afternoon, leaving at least 34 people dead, according to state media reports, as rescuers scrambled to locate the missing.

The vessel was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members when it capsized in the UNESCO World Heritage site 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 rescued 11 people and recovered 34 bodies,” it added.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) spokesperson confirmed there were no Australians on board.

But one 10-year-old reportedly survived the deadly accident in the most unlikely circumstances.

According to local outlet VietnamNet, the unnamed boy survived the sinking of the tourist boat by sheltering in an air pocket of the overturned vessel.

The boy had been travelling with his family in Vietnam’s famed Ha Long Bay. According to the report, the boy was trapped in the boat but found refuge in an underwater air pocket, where he stayed and waited for help.

It is understood he was eventually found by rescue teams and was relatively unharmed, before being warmed up and transferred to a nearby hospital,

Relief personnel gathered around a capsized tourist boat during a search and rescue operation in the Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh province. Picture: Vietnam News Agency/AFP

More than 30 people are said to have died. Picture: QDND via AP

Ha Long Bay office worker Tran Trong Hung told AFP the storm started in the afternoon.

“The sky turned dark at around 2pm,” he said.

There were “hailstones as big as toes with torrential rain, thunderstorm and lightning”, he said.

Stunning Ha Long Bay in the Gulf of Tonkin is a tourist mecca with scores of boats out at nay one time. Picture: iStock

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent his condolences 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 statement on the government website said.

A body being carried on stretcher after the boat capsized. Picture: QDND via AP

Torrential rain also lashed northern Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces on Saturday.

In the capital about 175 kilometres away, several trees were knocked down by strong winds.

The storm followed three days of intense heat, with the mercury hitting 37C in some areas.

Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, was quoted in VNExpress as saying that the thunderstorms in northern Vietnam were not caused by the influence of Tropical Storm Wipha in the South China Sea.

Ha Long Bay is one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations, with millions of people visiting its blue-green waters and rainforest-topped limestone islands each year.

Last year, 30 vessels sank at boat lock areas in coastal Quang Ninh province along Ha Long Bay after Typhoon Yagi brought strong wind and waves.