PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) – The search for scores of missing Chinese tourists whose boat capsized off Thailand’s Phuket island resumed early Friday, with divers poised to scour the sunken hull, the island’s governor told reporters.
The Phoenix ran into trouble on Thursday afternoon, when it was hammered by five-meter high waves whipped up by a storm.
The boat, which had left the popular snorkelling spot of Koh Racha to return to Phuket, was carrying 105 passengers, the majority Chinese tourists.
The body of one of the passengers, believed to be a Chinese tourist, was pulled from the sea late Thursday and brought to shore, shortly before the search was called off for the night.
“We will conduct air searches and send divers to check inside the sunken Phoenix boat,” Noraphat Plothong said.
Stunned survivors huddled in blankets on a Phuket pier late Thursday.
Some cried while others appeared dazed as they walked around still wearing their life jackets.
“Eleven are injured, of these two are in serious condition,” the governor added.
A weather warning was in place on Thursday, the governor said, but boats still went out.
A Chinese consular official arrived at the operations centre in Phuket to monitor the rescue effort.
Several other vessels hit trouble late Thursday. Initial reports from officials said all of the passengers on those boats were rescued.
But as details dripped through overnight, governor Noraphat said two passengers were still unaccounted for from another stricken ship.
© Agence France-Presse
