An estimated 40 people drowned when an overloaded boat capsized on Gianh River in central Vietnam early Sunday morning. Thirty-five other passengers were rescued or managed to swim to safety.
Witnesses said the small boat could have been carrying over 80 people, mostly women and children. Authorities of Quang Hai and Quang Thach communes of Quang Binh Province, where the accident happened, are searching the river for more victims.
The Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted Colonel Nguyen Quoc Tri, head of the Quang Binh Military Command, as saying the boat’s capacity was about 40 people.
The boat’s owner, Nguyen Xuan Qui of Quang Hai, has been summoned by the local police for interrogation, VnExpress newswire reports.
Witnesses told Thanh Nien many passengers were going shopping for the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival from Quang Hai, on the south side of the river, to a market in Quang Thach. The Lunar New Year falls on January 26 this year.
Tuoi Tre quoted a witness as saying the boat also carried many bicycles, goods and a cow.
The boat capsized in the middle of the 50-meters wide river where it is 15 – 20 meters deep. None of its six lifebuoys were used, possibly because the accident happened very fast.
VnExpress quoted Cao Thi Huong, a 39-year-old survivor, as saying there were strong waves in the middle of the river.
Tran Cong Thuat, Vice chairman of the Quang Binh People’s Committee, told Tuoi Tre the province has canceled the fireworks display planned to welcome the Lunar New Year, adding the accident was “too great a loss.”
Reported by Thanh Nien staff
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