At least 28 were killed and over a dozen went missing when a tourist boat carrying families on trips around Vietnam’s iconic Ha Long Bay turned over on Saturday, state media reported.
The boat had 48 tourists and five crew aboard when it turned over in the UNESCO World Heritage location due to sudden heavy rain, the Dan Tri news website reported.
Most Victims Were Families from Hanoi, Including Children
The majority of the passengers were families on holiday from the capital city Hanoi, with over 20 children among them, a VNExpress news site report said.
“Border guards rescued 12 people and recovered 18 bodies,” it added.
Rescue operations were to continue late into the evening to locate the dozens still unaccounted for.
PM Orders Probe; Ministries Mobilised for Action
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent condolences to the families of the dead and ordered the defence and public security ministries to carry out immediate search and rescue.
Authorities would “investigate and explain the cause of the incident and handle violations strictly”, a government website statement said.
Eyewitness Describes Sudden Hailstorm and Torrential Rain
Tran Trong Hung, a resident in the Ha Long Bay area told AFP: “The sky turned dark at around 2 pm.”
There were “hailstones the size of toes with torrential rain, thunderstorm and lightning”, he added.
Torrential rain also pounded northern Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces on Saturday.
At the capital Hanoi, a number of trees were toppled by strong winds.
Heatwave Preceded Storm; No Link to Tropical Storm Wipha
The storm was preceded by three days of scorching heat, with the temperature reaching 37 degrees Celsius in parts.
Director of the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, Mai Van Khiem, said in VNExpress that thunderstorms in northern Vietnam were not due to the impact of Tropical Storm Wipha off the South China Sea.
Ha Long Bay’s History of Weather-Related Incidents
Ha Long Bay is among Vietnam’s top tourist attractions, drawing millions of visitors to its blue-green waters and rainforest-crowned limestone islets every year.
Some 30 boats sank in boat lock points in coastal Quang Ninh province off Ha Long Bay last year when Typhoon Yagi struck with strong winds and waves.
A ferry had sunk earlier this month off the tourist resort island of Bali in Indonesia, drowning at least 18 people.
