Six foreigners, Thai missing after boat sinks off Phuket
The navy was searching on Monday for six foreign tourists and one Thai missing at sea after a boat sank in a storm near the southern resort isle of Phuket, a police official said.
The vessel carrying 30 passengers including 19 foreign tourists was reported missing at about 11pm (1600 GMT) Sunday, having earlier left southern Phuket heading to the Similan island group.
Lieutenant Colonel Panya Chaichana of the Phuket police said 23 passengers and crew had been rescued but two Swiss nationals, two Austrians, one Japanese national, one German and a Thai crew members were missing.
“We suspect the boat sank in the deep water outside Patong beach (on Phuket) due to heavy storms… We are still searching for the other passengers who are still missing,” he said..
The boat was carrying 19 holidaymakers, eight local crew members and three Thai tourist agency staff, he added.
Phuket, Thailand’s biggest island, is one of the kingdom’s top tourist draws, with holidaymakers attracted by its white-sand beaches, plush resorts and spas, and clear blue seas popular with divers and watersports enthusiasts.
Ferries shuttle hundreds of tourists every day between Phuket and the paradise islands in the Andaman Sea a short hop away.
In September 2007, an Israeli tourist died and another was injured when a boat carrying 59 people capsized near Phi Phi, also along the Andaman coast. (AFP)
