Ferry Disaster, â€“ Over 100 Missing, 6-Dead

November 3, 2013

A Pattaya City passenger ferry has sunk off nearby Koh Larn Island after leaking, so all Thai rescue services are working through the night. There were 150-200 Thai and foreign tourists and with around100-passengers unaccounted for, plus 6-dead, this is the worst shipping disaster to have occurred in Thailand’s biggest tourist city

PATTAYA – November 3, 2013 [PDN]; – At 4.40pm. The large passenger ferry was returning to Cape Bali Hai Port in South Pattaya when it started leaking badly and sank approximately 500-metres of nearby Koh Larn Island There were hundreds of tourists floating in the sea with a few swimming to the shore by themselves, but fears are held for the large number of injured, who will be difficult to locate during the night.. Rescuers from other boats rushed to assist all the victims, and initially there are more than 10-children and adults dead and around one hundred tourists have been injured. Rescuers from all available units went to assist the victims and waiting for a ship from Sattahip Naval Base to search the sinking ship for the bodies of passengers, but darkness is a big obstacle.

Journalists reported that the police of Pattaya City Police Station, in SE Thailand’s Chonburi Province were notified that there was the sinking of a passenger ferry operating between Pattaya City and Koh Larn that takes tourists on mainly day trips. The name of the ship was “Koh Larn Travel 1”and it had two decks, but the ship leaked and sank in the sea quite a distance off Koh Larn, on its return trip to South It was carrying 150-200 Thai and foreign passengers back to the port in South Pattaya Bay under Bali Hai Cape. Most of the tourists were families that consisted of children and adults, which are Thai, Russian, Korean, Chinese plus many other nationalities, totalling 150-200 people. The ship sank when it was approximately 500-metres off Koh Larn Island and other passengers ship that were nearby assisted in rescuing the tourists that were floating in the sea. They immediately informed the sea rescue organisations in Pattaya City to launch their rescue boats to assist the victims so at this time things were very chaotic.

Initially, there were many foreign tourists injured, while some had drowned in the sea; – Initial estimates were 5-10 tourists dead from drowning, including Asian and European people; – (Names cannot be confirmed yet). The large number of injured tourists were sent to various hospitals, such as Pattaya Memorial (private) hospital, Bangkok-Pattaya International hospital and Banglamung government hospital. The rescuers assume that there are some more dead people that have not been located and it is possible that there are the bodies of dead victims, who went down with the sinking ship.

The rescuers who are involved in this disaster are the Pattaya Police, the Tourist Police, the Sea Rescue Units of Pattaya City, the Marine Police, and the Administration Division of the Amphur Banglamung District have mobilized forces of officers to inspect the victims at the port facilities near Bali Hai Cape. They have hurried to inform the relatives of the victims and others who have unaccounted family members, to come to see whether there were any other people lost or not. At this time, the officers still cannot produce information to show whether there were any other tourists missing or lost.

Journalists reported that the officers coordinated with Royal Thai Navy and Marine Police to bring them boats to assist the officers in inspecting the point where the ship sank. They may find victims that got stuck in the ship and will continue to look for lost passengers, as it is at night, so the operation is proceeding with difficulty. The cause of this accident was that the ship leaked, then it sank in the sea almost immediately, because the water pumping equipment was out of order. Water could not be pumped out of the ship in time, so this caused the ship to sink quickly. Since it has sunk, investigating officers have found that this passenger ship was loaded up with too many passengers, as the ship can only carry a limit of 150-passengers. Whilst it is good to have strict regulations, there must also be regular checking, to ensure that these are maintained, or serious loss of life may occur.

This accident is the first ever in Pattaya that that has seen so many tourists dead from the sinking of a ship. For more details of this accident, the investigating officers will make a detailed statement again later and when there is any further information; our journalists will rush to report this news to you.