Tourist boat sinks in Vietnam bay: 12 dead

An overnight boat packed with sleeping tourists, including Americans, Australians and Britons, sank early Thursday in Vietnam’s scenic Ha Long Bay, killing 11 foreigners and their Vietnamese guide, officials said.Nine foreign tourists and six locals were rescued from the chilly water by other tour boats anchored nearby. They were rushed to a hospital as teams scoured the area for more survivors.

Those rescued reported seeing a plank of the wooden live-aboard ship ripping away, followed by gushing water inundating the boat and quickly pulling it down around 5am near Titov island, said Vu Van Thin, chief administrator of Quang Ninh province.

“Crew members tried to stop the water from coming in and alerted the tourists who were sleeping, but the water came in and the boat sank quickly,” he said. “All of the 12 people who died were in the cabins.”There were 27 people on the boat, including six crew members, Thin said. It was anchored alongside dozens of other cruise boats, and weather conditions were calm at the time of the incident.

Twelve bodies have been found, including those of tourists from the US, Australia and Britain, said Ngo Van Hung, director of Ha Long Bay’s management board. The body of a Vietnamese tour guide was also recovered, and all of the dead have been sent to Bai Chay Hospital for identification.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that one Japanese was among the dead.Giang Quoc Duy, deputy director of the hospital, said three foreign tourists, including men from the US and France and a woman from Switzerland, were admitted to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

“They were in a panic,” Duy said. “They were given first aid treatment and have returned to their hotels.”Online newspaper Dan Tri quoted Do Thong, provincial vice governor, as saying the tourists on board were from 11 countries, including the US, Britain, France, Russia, Denmark and Sweden.

Ha Long Bay is one of Vietnam’s most popular tourism attractions, located near the Chinese border in the Gulf of Tonkin about three hours east of the capital, Hanoi. Many visitors opt to stay overnight on boats with sleeping cabins to cruise the picturesque bay, a world heritage site dotted with limestone formations.

Source = laovoices