Fifteen people were killed when a speedboat carrying Indian tourists capsized near an island off southern Vietnam, according to local media reports citing regional authorities.
The vessel was carrying 32 Indian nationals and four crew members when it overturned in rough seas on Saturday, about 400 metres from Hon May Rut Ngoai island.
Tour boats operating nearby rushed to assist after the accident, with rescuers finding several passengers trapped inside the overturned vessel, Vietnamese news outlet VnExpress reported.
Twenty-one people were rescued. Some local reports said all those killed were Indian citizens, although authorities were continuing to verify the final number of fatalities and survivors.
Hon May Rut Ngoai is a small island in the An Thoi Archipelago in the Gulf of Thailand and is a popular stop for island-hopping tours. It lies about 10 kilometres south of Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island.
Nguyen Tien Hai, a senior Communist Party official in the region, said investigators were still confirming details of those on board.
He said strong winds and high waves may have caused the speedboat to overturn.
“The top priority is rescue, bringing all victims ashore and focusing all efforts on providing emergency care to those who are still alive,” Hai said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “extremely saddened to learn about the tragic news of a boat accident involving Indian nationals” in Vietnam.
“My sincere condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. My prayers for the early recovery of the injured survivors,” he wrote in a post on X.
The Indian embassy in Vietnam described the accident as “tragic” and released a full list of the 32 Indian nationals who had been travelling on the boat.
It also established telephone hotlines to “provide information and assistance to affected families”.
