Ha Long Bay disaster: Tourist boat capsizes, dozens dead
A boat ferrying mostly families around an iconic tourist spot popular with Aussies has capsized in an unexpected wild storm, leaving at least 35 dead.
Rescuers searched desperately Sunday for four people still missing after at least 35 were killed when a boat capsized at one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations.
The tourist boat ferrying families around Vietnam’s famed Ha Long Bay was lashed by a sudden storm Saturday in one of the deadliest disasters at the UNESCO World Heritage site.
The vessel “Wonder Sea” was carrying 46 passengers and three crew when it capsized because of sudden heavy rain, according to a provincial police report seen by AFP.
Previous state media reports had said that 53 people were on board and 37 people had died, but the figures were later revised by police.
Tran Trong Hung, a resident in the Ha Long Bay area, told AFP: “The sky turned dark.” There were “hailstones as big as toes with torrential rain, thunderstorms and lightning”, he said.
Most of those on board were families visiting from the capital, Hanoi, with more than 20 children among the passengers, state media outlet VNExpress said.
By Sunday (AEST) 35 bodies had been recovered and 10 people rescued, police said, with four people still missing.
Overnight the three crew members’ bodies were found in the cabin.
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.”
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.
Relatives anxiously sat beside ambulances on the wharf of one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist sites on Sunday, waiting for news of loved ones who were on a tourist boat that capsized killing dozens.
Fruits and flowers were laid on the coast for the at least 35 killed in the wreckage on Saturday in what some called Ha Long Bay’s worst disaster.
As rescuers worked into Sunday morning to salvage the sunken boat, a handful of people were still missing.
The tourist vessel called “Wonder Sea” had been carrying 49 people, including several children, around the UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to provincial police.
Hoang Quang rushed from Hanoi to Quang Ninh province at 2:00 am on Sunday for news of his cousin and her family who were on the boat when it capsized.
The couple - a housewife and fruit seller married to a bus driver - had “tried their best” to afford the trip around the world-famous bay.
“They found the body of (the husband), not my cousin yet,” Hoang told AFP. He was “so shocked” when he heard news of the incident and immediately went to the wharf with other worried family members.
“Suddenly the victims were my relatives - anyone would be scared. We didn’t know what to do, except to keep waiting,” he said.
“We think that as we are all here, she knew and she would show up. We are all so anxious... We just wish and pray for her to come back here to us.”
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 37 degrees in some areas.
Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Center 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.
Wipha entered the South China Sea on Sunday gaining strength and is on course to make landfall in Vietnam early next week.
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.
And this month, a ferry sank off the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali, killing at least 18 people.
- With AFP
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Originally published as Ha Long Bay disaster: Tourist boat capsizes, dozens dead
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