PHUKET, 10 July 2018: The bodies of 41 victims, who drowned when the ill-fated tour boat Phoenix sank at the weekend, have now been moved from Phuket’s Vachira Hospital to Wat Kosit Wihan, after all the victims were identified.
Two Ill-fated tour boats, Phoenix, which carried 105 passengers and Senerita, with 39 passengers on board sank in a storm off Phuket, 5 July.
All of the passengers and crew on the Senerita were rescued.
However, the Phoenix capsized in heavy seas trapping tourists in the boat’s hull. Many of them were still wearing lifejackets. Others were found floating in the sea.
Both boat captains allegedly ignored a general weather alert warning small shipping to stay in harbour.
They were carrying mainly Chinese tourists when they ran into a heavy storm off the south coast of Phuket.
Director of the Police General Hospital, Pol Lt Gen Dr Witoon Nitiwarangkul, was quoted by the News Bureau of Thailand saying the police would establish a committee responsible for determining which bodies could be returned to their families.
The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation has established three centres to screen relatives of the victims, register the wounded and those who died in the accident.
Families of the victims and survivors had meetings with Chinese officials, representatives from insurance companies and administrative officers.
Meanwhile, NBT reported that authorities have established a centre at Phuket International Airport to facilitate repatriation. Relatives of the victims are urged to contact the immigration office at the airport, where officials will process passports, while a translator will also be provided for each family.
Various mobile phone operators are also providing free services to the families of the victims to communicate with authorities back in China.
(Source: NBT)
