At least 41 people dead and 15 more missing two days after boat carrying 105 people sank

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The death toll in the sinking of a tour boat off the Thai resort island of Phuket has climbed to 41, with 15 people missing.

The Phuket governor, Norraphat Plodthong, announced the news at a press conference on Saturday evening, two days after the boat capsized and sank after it was hit by five-metre (16-foot) waves. It was carrying 105 people, including 93 tourists, mostly Chinese.

Divers who entered the wreck of a tour boat that sank in a storm off the southern Thai resort island of Phuket described heartbreaking scenes of bodies of children found in the arms of their mothers, as the search continued on Saturday.



“It’s very difficult to see … it’s traumatic, it’s tragic but the best thing to do, our job as divers, is to bring back the bodies to their families,” diver Philip Entremont told reporters.

The prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, the leader of Thailand’s military government, expressed his “sympathies and deepest condolences” to the families of the dead. The government will “exert all efforts to find those still missing and provide support to all survivors of this tragic event”, he said.



Reports in Thai media said police charged the owner and captain of the stricken ship with carelessness causing death and injury.

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, called for all-out search and rescue efforts, telling the ministry of foreign affairs and Chinese diplomats in Thailand to take greater measures, and also urging Thai authorities to spare no efforts.