At least 15 Indian tourists have been killed after a speedboat carrying them capsized in rough seas near Phu Quoc island in southern Vietnam. Vietnam’s state media outlet VNExpress and the Indian embassy in Hanoi confirmed the deaths.
According to the AFP news agency, 36 people, including crew, were aboard the boat. Of them, 21 were rescued alive, though two remain in critical condition. Vietnam’s coast guard and local administration said that after noon on Saturday the speedboat had set out with 36 people – 32 Indian tourists, three crew members and a guide – from a small island called Hon May Rut Ngoai, part of the Phu Quoc group, bound for An Thoi port.
Just 400 meters (440 yards) from shore on the way to the port, the boat ran into stormy winds and high waves and capsized within moments, throwing the driver, crew and all the passengers into the sea. Local fishermen, a coast guard special rescue team and other nearby vessels quickly reached the scene and launched a rescue operation, pulling 21 people alive from the water despite strong currents and rushing them to a local hospital. The bodies of 15 Indian tourists were recovered one by one from the seabed and the surrounding area.
The Indian embassy in Vietnam expressed its grief over the accident and has set up emergency control rooms in two major Vietnamese cities to provide immediate diplomatic and legal help to the affected tourists and their grieving families – one at the Indian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City and the other at the main embassy in Hanoi.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report