Vietnamese police detained the captain of a speedboat that capsized off southern Vietnam, killing 15 Indian tourists, on Sunday. The captain, Nguyen Hong
Hai, 57, is under investigation for alleged violations of waterway transport safety regulations, reported Associated Press, citing the state media. The speedboat was carrying 32 Indian tourists and four Vietnamese crew members when it overturned less than half a kilometre (0.30 mile) from shore Saturday afternoon, shortly after leaving Hon May Rut Ngoai island near Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island, authorities said. 15 people were killed in the incident. Of the 15 victims, 10 were from Tamil Nadu, three from Andhra Pradesh and two were from Kerala. Two of the deceased were women, according to a list shared by the Indian Embassy.
According to the list, the deceased from Tamil Nadu were identified as Senthil Kumar Jayavel, Muruga Prabhu Arumugam, Sridhar Sundararajan, Shaik Abdullah Abdul Majeed, Balaji Natesan, Vinaya Kumar Chithirapuram Bhaskara, Ravisankar Sugumaran, Santosh Kumar Shantilaljain, Babu Kuppuswamy and Alagurajan Sivasamy.
The deceased from Andhra Pradesh were identified as Nallapeta Adiseshaiah Raviteja, Sreedhar Mudiam and Jaya Lakshmi Gelli, while those from Kerala were identified as Avicot Cheriyan Thomas and Loveni Thomas.
The governments in the three southern states have issued helpline numbers to assist relatives of the affected persons.
According a passenger, the captain told everyone to wear life jackets before departure, but many carried them in their hands, reported state media VN Express. When the speedboat capsized, some passengers were trapped inside and had to escape through the bow or windows, the report said.
16 Survivors Discharged From Hospital, Mortal Remains of 15 Killed To Be Sent Home
Sixteen survivors of Saturday’s speedboat accident have been discharged from the hospital and are returning to India, the Indian Embassy in Hanoi said on social media Sunday. One remains in critical condition in a Vietnamese hospital.
The bodies of the victims were being transported to Ho Chi Minh City before being flown to India after official formalities, according to the embassy. "The mortal remains of the 15 Indian nationals who tragically passed away in yesterday’s boat accident are being transported to Ho Chi Minh City and will reach there by this evening. After completion of formalities at Ho Chi Minh the mortal remains would be transported to India at the earliest," the embassy said.
