Two dozen still missing after Vietnam boat accident

Rescuers searched today for around two dozen people still missing after a boat carrying some 150 passengers, mostly school students, capsized off the coast of southern Vietnam.

Searchers have recovered the bodies of 26 victims – 20 females and six males - and rescued 102 other people since Friday’s accident, officials said.

Soldiers, police and fishermen fanned out in more than 30 boats to search for the missing passengers.

“We are not giving up hope,” said police officer Phan Thanh An of Ngoc Hien district in southern Ca Mau province.

Most of those on board were school students who had organised a holiday trip, An said. Friday was Vietnam’s national Liberation Day, a holiday commemorating the defeat of the US-backed government of South Vietnam by the Communists in 1975.

Police said they now believe the boat was carrying 152 people to the nearby tourist island of Hon Khoai when it sank around 3.5 miles off Ca Mau, Vietnam’s southernmost tip. Earlier, they had estimated around 130 people were on board.

The exact number of passengers was not immediately known because tickets were sold on the boat. Authorities said their new estimate was based on reports of missing people from local towns and rescued passengers.

The owner of the fishing boat and the pilot turned themselves in to police yesterday for questioning. Police suspect a broken pump was responsible for the boat’s sinking.