VIETNAM: Rescuers in Vietnam were searching yesterday for people missing since their boat sank off the country's southernmost tip while on a holiday outing. The death toll has risen to 38.
The boat, a fishing vessel illegally carrying passengers, developed a leak and began taking on water as it was heading to Hon Khoai island on Friday. Police said the boat's pump had apparently broken down as water poured in.
"We do not have a lot of money, but because we love our child we sent her on the excursion to make her happy," Mr Cao Van Teo, who lost his teenage daughter, was quoted as saying by the Thanh Nien newspaper. "But I could never imagine this."
Teenagers and a five-year-old were among the 38 confirmed dead.
The boat was originally thought to have been carrying nearly 200 people, but state-run television said yesterday 152 were on board. At least 103 had been rescued.
Nineteen of the dead came from Vien An, a commune or cluster of villages in Ca Mau province, near the scene of the disaster. About half of the passengers on the weekend outing came from Vien An. A witness in the commune saw weeping relatives of a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl preparing the bodies for burial yesterday.
Among the dead were three teenage sisters and two teenage brothers from another family. A mother and her two sons were also feared dead.
Many of the boat's passengers were young people, most aged between 12 and 15, on a school trip to Hon Khoai island, about 10 miles off Ca Mau Cape, which is well known for marine life.
Some frantic children used mobile phones to call their parents for help as the boat went down. The weather on the day of the accident was clear.
A couple that owns the boat were detained. The boat was registered as a fishing vessel, and was not allowed to ferry tourists. - (Reuters)