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Agence France-Presse

Rescuers searched desperately on Sunday for four people still missing after at least 35 were killed when a boat capsized at one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations.
The tourist boat ferrying families around Vietnam’s famed Ha Long Bay was lashed by a sudden storm Saturday in one of the deadliest disasters at the Unesco World Heritage site.
The “Wonder Sea” vessel was carrying 46 passengers and three crew members when it capsized because of sudden heavy rain, according to a provincial police report.
Previous state media reports had said that 53 people were on board and 38 people had died, but the figures were later revised by police.
Tran Trong Hung, a resident in the Ha Long Bay area, said: “The sky turned dark.”
There were “hailstones as big as toes with torrential rain, thunderstorms and lightning”, he said.
Most of those on board were families visiting from the capital, Hanoi, with more than 20 children among the passengers, state media outlet VNExpress said.
Thirty-five bodies had been recovered and 10 people rescued by Sunday, police said, with four people still missing.
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 on.”
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent his condolences on Saturday to the families of the deceased and called on the defence and public security ministries to conduct urgent search and rescue.

Authorities would “investigate and clarify the cause of the incident and strictly handle violations”, a government statement said.
Hoang Quang rushed from Hanoi to Quang Ninh province at 2am on Sunday for news of his cousin and her family who were on the boat when it capsized.
The couple – a housewife and fruit seller married to a bus driver – had “tried their best” to afford the trip around the world-famous bay.
“They found the body of [the husband], not my cousin yet,” Hoang said.
He was “so shocked” when he heard news of the incident and immediately went to the wharf with other worried family members.
“Suddenly the victims were my relatives – anyone would be scared. We didn’t know what to do, except to keep waiting,” he said.
“We think that as we are all here, she knew and she would show up. We are all so anxious … We just wish and pray for her to come back here to us.”

At Ha Long city’s main funeral home, bodies wrapped in red cloth were carried in on stretchers, as friends and relatives cried in front of more than a dozen coffins.
A 68-year-old man, who asked not to be named, rushed to the scene at 3am, only to discover that his relatives – a young family of four, including two boys – had died in the capsizing.
“We were all so shocked,” he said tearfully. “This was a very sudden accident. They were just taking the kids out to the bay for summer holidays and it ended up terrible.”
Torrential rain also lashed northern Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces on Saturday.
Several trees were knocked down in the capital by strong winds.
The storm followed three days of intense heat, with the mercury hitting 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit) in some areas.

Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, was quoted in VNExpress as saying that the thunderstorms in northern Vietnam were not caused by the influence of Tropical Storm Wipha in the South China Sea.
Wipha entered the South China Sea on Sunday, gaining strength and is on course to make landfall in Vietnam early next week.
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.
Last year, 30 vessels sank at boat lock areas in coastal Quang Ninh province along Ha Long Bay after Typhoon Yagi brought strong winds and waves.
And this month, a ferry sank off the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali, killing at least 18 people.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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35 dead as tourist boat capsizes in Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay

The tourist boat (centre) that capsized is towed back to the port in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Rescuers search for the boat tragedy victims. Photo: EPA/Vietnam News Agency

A body being carried on stretcher after a tourist boat capsized in Ha Long Bay. Photo: QDND via AP

Relatives of victims of the capsized boat wait for information about their loved ones at the pier in Ha Long Bay. Photo: AFP

Anxious wait for Vietnam families of the missing in Ha Long Bay boat sinking

The tourist boat that capsized is towed back to the port in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, on Sunday. Photo: AFP


A relative cries next to the coffins of victims of the boat accident at a funeral home in Ha Long on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Officials visit a survivor at a hospital in Quang Ninh province on Sunday. Photo: EPA/Vietnam News Agency

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News

Asia

Southeast Asia

The vessel was carrying 46 passengers and three crew members when it overturned because of sudden heavy rain


The vessel was carrying 46 passengers and three crew members when it overturned because of sudden heavy rain.


Marine safety

Tourism

South China Sea

Weather

35 dead as tourist boat capsizes in Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The vessel was carrying 46 passengers and three crew members when it overturned because of sudden heavy rain

The vessel was carrying 46 passengers and three crew members when it overturned because of sudden heavy rain