HANOI: A tourist boat ferrying families around Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay capsized in a storm on Saturday (Jul 19) 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 because of sudden heavy rain as it toured the UNESCO World Heritage site, the VNExpress news site said.
“Border guards rescued 11 people and recovered 34 bodies,” it added.
The accident occurred at approximately 2pm local time (3pm, Singapore time), shortly after Storm Wipha entered the South China Sea. Strong winds, heavy rainfall and lightning were recorded in the area.
Authorities have yet to disclose details about the tourists or their nationalities, and rescue efforts were set to continue into the night to find the eight still missing.
Most of those on board were families visiting from the capital Hanoi, with more than 20 children among the passengers, VNExpress said.
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, adding that there were “hailstones as big as toes with torrential rain, thunderstorm and lightning”.
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.”
