The death toll in last night’s sinking of the tourist vessel Phoenix has, predictably, continued to mount throughout the day as a Thai Navy search for the missing continues.
At a press conference this afternoon, Phuket Govenor Noraphat Plodthong revealed that 21 tourists missing in the wake of last night’s disaster have been found dead — leaving 35 still unaccounted for. Only one death had been confirmed last night at the time of the sinking.
The dead were found drifting face down in the water, still wearing life jackets, several kilometres (miles) from where the Phoenix sank after being hit by five-meter high waves in a storm on Thursday evening.
A stream of full body bags were brought to shore at Chalong pier in Phuket and taken to a nearby hospital for identification, according to the Public Health Ministry.
All 42 passengers on the Serenata yacht, however, which sank during the same storm, have now reportedly been rescued, according Morning News.
Governor Noraphat stated that rescuers will continue searching a 10-kilometer radius around the Phoenix wreckage within a 10 kilometer radius, via ocean (with divers), air (with helicopters) and land (by foot and car) — until the last of the Phoenix’s 103 passengers has been located.
“I’m not really sure how many will survive,” a grim-faced Noraphat told reporters.
The boat sank 40 metres below the surface of the Andaman Sea, a few kilometres off the coast of Koh He, an islet known for its coral formations and popular with day-trippers from the tourist magnet of Phuket.
Separately, Thai naval officer Wiriya Leungaram revealed that a warning, released on Wednesday, had specifically predicted “heavy rains and sudden flooding” as well as “strong winds and high currents” and suggested all boats “heavily consider safety” and keep checking official updates before deciding to put to sea.
Thai junta number two Prawit Wongsuwon ordered an investigation into why “the boat went to sea” despite all warnings.
The Phoenix belonged to TC Blue Dream Co Ltd, which reportedly had insurance for every passenger. Families will receive THB1 million (about US$30,000) for each individual that passed away while those injured will receive TBH500,00 (about US$15,000) for hospital bills.
Additional reporting by AFP.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story listed the total number of passengers as 105. Those numbers have been updated with new information from Phuket’s Incident Command Center for Vessel Crash Victims and Phuket’s public relations office
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