Six people, including three
foreigners, were killed and more 26 others injured after a tourist ferry
capsized in Pattaya, Thailand on November 3.
The dead include
three Thais and one Chinese. Two are still to be identified, Pattaya
police superintendent Suwan Chiewnawinthawat said.
The official
rejected information that many people were trapped inside the ferry when
the incident occurred and said that all other passengers made it ashore
safely.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in Thailand confirmed
that one person from Hong Kong had died and two other Chinese citizens
were injured in the incident.
At least half of the passengers
aboard were Russian, three of them now in hospital in critical
condition, according to Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency.
The
cause of the accident is still under investigation. Local news said a
broken pump allowed water to overflow onto the packed ferry, making it
capsize and sink rapidly.
The vessel was carrying more than 200
people at the time of the accident despite its maximum capacity being
only 150 passengers, according to Bangkok Post.
The same day, a boat carrying almost 70 people capsized off Myanmar’s coast, leaving dozens missing in treacherous seas.
The boat was believed to be transporting Rohingya people from Myanmar to Malaysia.
A local official said six survivors have been found in the Bay of Bengal.-VNA