2 South Korean tourists missing in Thai boat collision
PHUKET — Two tourists from South Korea are missing after a boat carrying them and about two dozen others collided with a fishing vessel near Thailand’s southern resort of Phuket yesterday (Oct 19), Thai police said.
PHUKET — Two tourists from South Korea are missing after a boat carrying them and about two dozen others collided with a fishing vessel near Thailand’s southern resort of Phuket yesterday (Oct 19), Thai police said.
The tourist speedboat was carrying 34 people and three crew members from Phi Phi island when it hit the fishing vessel, said police Col Phumin Poompanmoung.
Marine police were able to rescue 27 of those aboard the tourist boat and villagers on boats retrieved eight others, but a man and a woman from South Korea are still missing.
Authorities said some of the tourists, who were mostly Chinese but included four Koreans and two Britons, suffered broken bones and internal injuries. Police were holding the speedboat’s crew and the fishing boat’s captain for questioning.
This is the second fatal boat accident this month, after two Indian tourists drowned on Oct 5 when the boat they were in capsized in bad weather, also along Thailand’s southern Andaman Sea coast. The boat’s operator was subsequently charged with reckless operation of a vehicle.