Vietnamese police detained the 57-year-old captain of a speedboat that overturned near the southern tip of Phu Quoc island, an accident that resulted in the deaths of fifteen Indian visitors, officials reported. The vessel, which was carrying thirty-two Indian tourists, three Vietnamese crew members, and a single tour guide, capsized on Saturday when it encountered rough seas off the islet of May Rut Ngoai.
Rescue teams and sailors managed to pull twenty-one individuals from the water, but fifteen passengers were confirmed dead, according to state media outlets. Police in the neighbouring province of An Giang announced that they took the captain into custody on charges of violating maritime regulations that led to the disaster.
Preliminary reviews by Vietnamese authorities point to rapidly shifting weather patterns as the primary trigger for the incident, as reported by the newspaper Tuoi Tre. Participants in the rescue effort described encountering high waves despite an absence of rain, and they noted that several other tourist boats were working through the same waters at the time.
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The authorities also confirmed that fifteen survivors had been released from medical care and were being escorted back to India, a statement from New Delhi’s embassy in Hanoi said on Sunday. One individual remained in a serious condition and continued to receive treatment at a hospital on Phu Quoc. The embassy added that the remains of the fifteen victims would be repatriated to India for burial.
May Rut Ngoai lies just south of Phu Quoc, the country’s largest island, and is celebrated for its clear blue waters, white-sand beaches, and easy-access diving reefs. The region has experienced a sharp increase in visitor numbers, with more than 1.8 million foreign guests recorded on the island during the previous year, showing its growing popularity among international travelers.
Maritime incidents involving tourist vessels are not uncommon in the Southeast Asian nation, where sudden weather changes, regular flooding, and lapses in vessel upkeep have contributed to past tragedies. In response to the recent capsize, a number of tour operators halted their speedboat routes between the surrounding islets, according to further reports from state media.