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Divers searched beneath the waves for missing passengers and crew after a sightseeing ship capsized in a squall in Halong Bay, a popular tourist destination in Vietnam, on Saturday.
At least 38 of those on board have been confirmed dead.
As of early Sunday morning local time, search and rescue efforts remained underway for those who are still missing, according to state media outlet Vietnamnet.
The vessel was carrying 53 people – 48 tourists and five crew members – according to local paper VN Express.
In an interview with Vietnamnet, a 64-year-old diver at the scene said much of the ship’s passenger area had been searched. The cockpit and engine room, however, are stuck in mud, making them harder to reach.
“As of now, I am certain there are no more bodies in the passenger cabin,” said diver Đinh Khắc Giông. “I only worry that some bodies may have drifted outside.”
Vietnam’s government said at least 38 of those on board had been confirmed dead and 10 had been rescued, according to the Reuters news agency.
The state-run Vietnam News Agency reported that all of the tourists were Vietnamese, Reuters said.
VN Express reported that the ship, called the Wonder Sea, was caught in a storm around 1.30 p.m. local time (2.30 a.m. ET), which caused it to capsize.
It then lost GPS signal, according to the outlet, which cited the Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Committee.
Most of the passengers were from the Vietnamese capital Hanoi and traveling as families, according to VN Express, which reported the eldest passenger as 53 years old and the youngest as just 3.
Over 20 children were on board, VN Express said. Citing the director of a local hospital, the outlet reported that a 10-year-old boy is in stable condition after suffering multiple injuries.
It also reported a 14-year-old boy survived after being trapped inside the ship’s sunken cabin for four hours, citing an eyewitness and deputy head of the Ha Long Cruise Ship Association, Bui Cong Hoan.
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