A tourist boat capsized during a sudden thunderstorm in Vietnam's Ha Long Bay on Saturday afternoon, leaving at least 38 people dead and seven others missing. The vessel, named Wonder Sea, was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members on a sightseeing tour of the popular UNESCO World Heritage site.
Rescue workers saved 12 people and recovered 38 bodies near the site of the incident, according to the VNExpress newspaper. The government confirmed the death toll in a statement, noting that all tourists aboard were Vietnamese, including several children. A 14-year-old boy was among the survivors, rescued after being trapped in the overturned hull for four hours.
Survivor Dang Anh Tuan, 36, described the ordeal to the Associated Press: 'It rained for about 15 minutes, and then the boat started to shake vigorously, tables and chairs were jostled around and seconds later the boat overturned. Water gushed in and I lost all orientation.' Tuan escaped by swimming out a window and clung to the capsized boat for two hours before rescue arrived.
Before the accident, passengers had asked the crew to return to shore, but were reassured they were almost at their destination. A tropical storm, Storm Wipha, was also approaching the area, expected to hit northern Vietnam including Ha Long Bay in the coming days.
