A speedboat capsizes in Vietnam, killing 15 tourists; the police arrested the captain

Vietnamese police arrested the captain of a speedboat on Sunday that capsized in southern Vietnam, killing 15 Indian tourists.

The speedboat was carrying 32 Indian tourists and four Vietnamese workers when it capsized less than half a kilometer off the coast on Saturday afternoon, shortly after leaving Hon May Rut Ngoai island near Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island, authorities said.

The captain, Nguyen Hong Hai, 57, is being investigated for alleged violations of maritime safety laws, state media reported.

16 survivors of a speedboat accident have been discharged from the hospital and are returning to India, the Indian Embassy in Hanoi said on social media on Sunday. One remains in critical condition in a hospital in Vietnam.

The bodies of the dead were being transported to Ho Chi Minh City before they were sent to India following formalities, according to the embassy.

The Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that “initial assessments by Vietnamese authorities suggest that this was an unavoidable incident caused by extreme weather conditions” that quickly changed.

State media quoted sailors involved in the rescue effort as saying there were high waves but no rain at the time, and other tourist boats were operating in the area.

The boat capsizes shortly after departure

All 15 victims were on a company trip organized by India’s Lava International, a smartphone and consumer electronics company, for its employees, distributors and retail partners, the company said.

Ashish Kumar, 48, who is a distributor of this company from the Indian city of Guntur who participated in this trip, said that the group was divided into three groups that were traveling between the islands when they saw the danger from the shore.

The first boat had left and the other two were still standing when it overturned.

The boat was close to shore when it capsized, he told The Associated Press by phone. “We shouted, ‘Help! Help!'”

Nearby boats rushed to help. “But by then it was too late,” he said.

Rough seas are hampering rescue efforts

Ha Van Loc, who was piloting a nearby boat at the time of the accident, told VN Express that he saw the overturned boat around 12:40 p.m. He saw about a dozen people clinging to the hull of the boat, while others – without life jackets – were struggling in the water.

“They were being drowned by the waves but they still raised their hands asking for help,” said Loc.

He said he could not get close to the overturned boat due to rough seas and feared that his boat’s propeller could harm those in the water. He and his team threw life buoys attached to ropes and pulled the four survivors aboard within 10 minutes.

Realizing that others were still trapped, Loc recorded a short video and alerted other boat operators in the area.

Within minutes, about a dozen boats and rescue teams arrived at the scene.

Rough seas with waves up to 10 meters high hampered the rescue. Jet Skis can reach survivors more easily than large boats and bring them to shore one by one.

State media VN Express quoted passengers as saying that the captain told everyone to put on life jackets before leaving, but many carried them in their hands. When the speedboat overturned, some passengers were trapped inside and had to escape through windows or the bow, the report said.

Kumar, an eyewitness, said there was no emergency aid available on the shore when the survivors were brought back.

On the beach, tourists and tour company workers were taking turns performing CPR and giving oxygen to the victims, state media said.

The 17 injured were admitted to Phu Quoc Sun Hospital after two emergency doctors and one nurse were dispatched.

The Indian embassy in Vietnam said 10 of the dead were from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, three from Andhra Pradesh and two from Kerala.

State media reports on Sunday said several tour companies had suspended speedboats between the islands after the deadly capsize.

A popular tourist destination

Hon May Rut Island is 6 miles south of Phu Quoc, one of the most popular beach destinations in Vietnam. Both are known for their white sand beaches and clear waters, which attract millions of domestic and foreign tourists each year.

India is one of Vietnam’s fastest growing tourism markets. The Southeast Asian country is expected to host about 750,000 Indians by 2025, up nearly 50% from the previous year.

Officials attribute the growth to a growing network of direct flights between major cities in India and Vietnam and Vietnam’s e-visa policy.

Phu Quoc has seen significant growth in tourism in recent years, with over 1.8 million foreigners visiting the island last year.

Boating accidents are common in the Southeast Asian nation, where extreme weather, frequent floods and inadequate maintenance have led to disasters.

In 2011, a cable boat full of sleeping tourists sank in Vietnam’s scenic Ha Long Bay, killing 12 tourists from nine countries, including two Americans.