Vietnam pledges justice after boat tragedy

VIETNAM will prosecute anyone responsible for the sinking of a tour boat in Halong Bay that killed 12 people, officials said at the weekend, as relatives arrived to take home the victims’ bodies.

Visitors from the United States, Sweden, Russia, Britain, Japan, France and Switzerland died when their boat sank while they slept before dawn on Thursday.

“It’s the deadliest Vietnamese tourism accident until now, and is a sad lesson,” Nguyen Quy Phuong, a deputy director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, told AFP.

“The people who caused the sinking of the ship will be properly judged under the law. There will be no exception,” he added.

Relatives of some of the victims travelled to Halong Bay to receive the bodies of their loved ones on Saturday afternoon.

“The bodies of four foreigners — two Swedes, a Japanese and a Briton — are going to be returned directly to their relatives at the site,” Phuong said.

An Australian of Vietnamese origin and a tour guide from Vietnam were also among the victims, the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) said.

Dang Huy Hau, deputy head of the Quang Ninh provincial government, which includes the bay, said authorities would “seriously” punish anyone found responsible for the boat sinking, according to local media.

Local police told AFP on Saturday that no one had been arrested but the crew were being questioned.

“We are waiting for the investigators’ final conclusion on the causes of the accident,” Phuong said.

The stricken vessel has been salvaged as part of the inquiries.

“We recovered backpacks, documents and personal items like clothes and shoes of the victims,” Phuong said.

Initial information from the crew suggested the boat, “Dream Voyage“, sank because of a break in the lower hull, police said.

It took on water so fast that sleeping passengers had almost no time to escape. Nine tourists and six crew survived.

The tragedy has highlighted safety issues at one of the country’s most popular tourist spots.

“We are going to inspect all the tourism boats,” Phuong said.

One Halong Bay operator suggested a previous suspension of night tours had been lifted.

Kurt Walter, general manager of luxury tour boat the Emeraude, told AFP that overnight trips resumed on Saturday because the sunken boat had been removed.

“According to the captain everybody... is cruising as normal,” he said.

Vietnam has described the accident as rare but there have been other deaths on the bay, prompting officials to reportedly pledge safety crackdowns.