The boat carrying 53 folks tipped over as Storm Wipha approached the nation throughout the South China Sea.
At the least 27 folks had been killed after a vacationer boat capsized in stormy climate in Vietnam‘s Halong Bay.
The boat carrying 53 folks tipped over round 2pm native time (07:00 GMT) on Saturday as Storm Wipha approached the nation throughout the South China Sea. Sturdy winds, heavy rainfall and lightning had been reported within the space.
Rescue groups discovered 11 survivors and recovered 27 our bodies, eight of them kids, the state-run Vietnam Information Company reported, citing native authorities.
There was no official announcement on the nationalities of the vacationers. Most of these on board had been households visiting from the capital Hanoi, with greater than 20 kids among the many passengers, the information outlet VNExpress mentioned.
One of many rescued kids, a 10-year-old boy, informed state-run VietnamNet: “I took a deep breath, swam by means of a spot, dived, then swam up. I even shouted for assist, then I used to be pulled up by a ship with troopers.”
Rescue efforts continued into the night time to seek out folks nonetheless lacking.
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh despatched his condolences to the households of the deceased.
Authorities will “examine and make clear the reason for the incident and strictly deal with violations”, a press release on the federal government’s web site mentioned.
Halong Bay is one in every of Vietnam’s hottest vacationer locations, with tens of millions of individuals visiting its blue-green waters and rainforest-topped limestone islands annually.
Final yr, 30 vessels sank at boat lock areas in coastal Quang Ninh province alongside Halong Bay after Storm Yagi introduced sturdy winds and waves.
Climate linked to Storm Wipha additionally knocked down a number of bushes in Hanoi, 175km (110 miles) away from Halong Bay, and disrupted air journey.
Noi Bai Airport mentioned 9 arriving flights had been diverted to different airports, and three departing flights had been briefly grounded on Saturday.
