A Vietnamese tour boat that sank killing 12 people is owned by a company linked to another deadly accident two years ago, police said as they wrapped up their probe into the latest tragedy.
Lam Ngoc Chau, a Vietnamese-born Australian aged 32, was one of 11 international tourists killed when the anchored junk sank in Halong Bay early on Thursday morning while its passengers were asleep.
Thirty-five-year-old Australian Nguyen Khuong Duy was among those rescued.
The pair were in a group of 19 tourists plus a tour guide and crew who were on a three-day cruise around the stunning limestone karsts of Halong Bay.
Vu Tuan Hung, of the Quang Ninh water police, confirmed media reports that the boat owner, Truong Hai Co, was involved in another deadly accident in September 2009 when it operated under a different name.
In the previous tragedy a boat belonging to the company sank during heavy rain, killing three foreign tourists and a local guide, Thanh Nien newspaper reported.
At the time Thanh Nien said the boat, which was new, had breached several regulations, prompting authorities to pledge stricter enforcement of seaworthiness standards and registration rules.
Mr Hung said officials plan to announce the results of their probe into the latest sinking to foreign ambassadors and families of the victims.
"Police investigators continue to find the reasons for the sinking of the boat, and the results of their probe are going to be announced at a meeting on Monday morning," he said.
A tourism official has called it Vietnam's worst tourism accident.
Attempts to reach the company Truong Hai since Thursday's tragedy have been unsuccessful, but Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that the boat which sank had been in service since 2008.
The crew are being held for questioning by police, but are not formally under arrest.
Initial information from the sailors suggested the boat, Dream Voyage, sank because of a break in the lower hull.
It took on water so fast that sleeping passengers had almost no time to escape the torrent that filled their cabins.
The salvaged boat has been moved to an island and will be transferred to the mainland for further examination.
Mr Hung said the bodies of eight foreign victims were returned to diplomatic representatives and relatives on the weekend.
Authorities have pledged a safety crackdown after the accident and said they will prosecute anyone responsible.
Travel agents said they feared the crackdown could affect business.
Halong Bay, about 200 kilometres north-east of Hanoi, is one of Vietnam's top tourist attractions, drawing tens of thousands of domestic and overseas visitors each year, many of whom take overnight boat tours.
The bay, located in the Gulf of Tonkin east of Hanoi, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.
Its 1,600 islands and islets form a spectacular seascape of mostly uninhabited limestone pillars made famous by the 1992 French movie Indochine.
0 comments:
Post a Comment