A tourist boat ferrying families around Vietnam's Ha Long Bay capsized in a storm, 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.
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At least 28 people have died and dozens are missing after a tourist boat carrying more than 50 capsized Saturday in Vietnam's Ha Long Bay, state media said.
ReplyDeleteThe 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 Dan Tri news site said.
Rescue efforts were set to continue into the night to find the eight still missing.
ReplyDeleteHa Long Bay office worker Tran Trong Hung told AFP the storm started in the afternoon.
"The sky turned dark at around 2pm (8am Irish time)," he said.
There were "hailstones as big as toes with torrential rain, thunderstorm and lightning", he said.
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.
ReplyDeleteTorrential rain also lashed northern Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces on Saturday.
ReplyDeleteIn the capital about 175km away, several trees were knocked down by strong winds.