Vietnam boat tragedy: 38 dead in Ha Long Bay storm
In Vietnam, at least 38 people died after a tourist boat capsized during a storm in Ha Long Bay, Reuters reports. A total of 53 people were on board the vessel.
The boat overturned on Saturday due to sudden severe weather, according to DW.
A local resident from Ha Long Bay recounted how the storm began in the afternoon: "There was thumb-sized hail, torrential rain, and thunder and lightning."
Heavy rain also hit Hanoi, Vietnam's capital. Strong winds brought down numerous trees.
According to the VNExpress publication, most of the passengers were families from Hanoi, including more than 20 children.
A rescued boy, who had been on the overturned vessel, told the state news portal VietnamNet: "I took a deep breath, swam through a crack, dove, and came up." According to the ten-year-old, he called for help and was pulled onto a rescue boat by soldiers.
Vietnam's Prime Minister, Pham Minh Chinh, expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and announced that search and rescue operations would continue.
A statement on the official government website mentioned that authorities "will conduct an investigation into the causes of the incident and strictly punish those responsible."
Ha Long Bay is renowned for its picturesque karst formations and is one of Vietnam's main tourist attractions, as well as for the entire Southeast Asian region. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage list and annually attracts millions of tourists from around the world.
Karst formations are landforms and underground cavities that result from the dissolution of soluble rocks like limestone, gypsum, dolomite, and rock salt by surface and groundwater. These processes lead to the formation of sinkholes, caves, shafts, collapses, and other distinctive shapes on the surface and deep within the Earth.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
