Many people missing after a ferry sunk outside of Phuket

At least one person has died and several are missing, mainly Chinese tourists, since a boat with about 90 passengers capsized south of Phuket, in Thailand. The ferry boat was hot with stormy weather and waves up to five meters high.



As of Wednesday, the governor of Phuket, Noraphat Plodthong, said that 49 people, over half of the passengers, still were receiving help from rescue boats. One person have been found drowned.



TV pictures taken at a pier in Phuket show how shocked tourists cuddle in blankets while healthcare professionals get injured.



The boat was heading back to Phuket from Koh Racha at 16:00 local time when the storm hit. The captain of the boat, Somjing Boontham, said in a television interview that up to five meters of high waves engulfed to boat.

- So I sent someone to give them life jackets. . . They were all Chinese tourists - apart from two farang, he said, referring to the native description of Westerners.



In a similar event in the same area a ship with 39 passengers recently sunk as a result of the unpredictable weather. All passengers had to be rescued, states the rescue agency in Bangkok.

Cover Photo (Above) By Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30037486