A boat capsizes in Vietnam
Hanoi: As many as 15 people, including Indian tourists, are feared dead in a boat capsize incident near Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island on Saturday, July 11, according to a local media report.
Of the survivors, 17 were passengers, and four were crew members.
According to Vietnamese news portal VN Express International, the speedboat was carrying 32 Indian tourists and four crew members from Hon May Rut to An Thoi Port when it capsized about 400 metres off Hon May Rut Ngoai, throwing everyone on board into the sea.
The passengers included five from Andhra Pradesh and 17 from Tamil Nadu. The boat also had passengers from Telangana, according to the state government. Sources in the Andhra Pradesh government told news agency PTI that three people from Andhra Pradesh were killed and three others from the state were hospitalised.
Citing initial information from authorities in the Phu Quoc Special Economic Zone, the news portal said nearby tourist boats rushed to assist before border guards, the navy, the coast guard and other forces joined the search-and-rescue operation.
The three deceased from Andhra Pradesh have been identified as N Adiseshaiah Ravi Teja from Hindupuram in Sri Satya Sai district, Mudiyam Sreedhar of Kadapa district and Gelli Jaya Lakshmi of Machilipatnam in Krishna district, official sources said.
Meanwhile, reacting to the tragedy, Teja’s brother said the 41-year-old had left for Vietnam on July 8 on a company-sponsored incentive trip organised for mobile phone distributors.
“We have been hearing that he died in the boat accident, but it is still hard to believe because we have not received any official confirmation,” he told reporters.
Similarly, family members of Sreedhar said he had travelled from Kadapa to Chennai, then Bangkok and onward to Vietnam on July 8. He was expected to return within two days.
“We received a call informing us about the accident, but we are still unable to believe it. We can accept it only after seeing his body,” a family member said.
Another relative said Sridhar’s trip had been sponsored by a mobile phone company as he was its distributor in Kadapa district.
“The company’s employee, Nayeem, informed us about the incident. Doctors in Vietnam later confirmed his death,” the relative said.
The families appealed to the authorities to facilitate the early repatriation of the bodies to Andhra Pradesh.
The tour was organised by Vietnam-based Threeland Travel through local coordinating vendor Sai Vietnam, while the Indian tourist group was reportedly associated with the mobile company.
Earlier, the Indian Embassy in Hanoi said that it had set up control rooms as search and rescue operations would continue. But the Indian mission is yet to share details about the deaths.
“In a tragic incident, a boat carrying several Indian tourists has capsized near Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam,” the embassy said in a post on X.
It said control rooms have been established at the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City and at the Embassy in Hanoi to provide information and assistance.
The first control room can be reached at: +84 36 281 7930, +84 91 552 37 14 and +84 33 452 0414. The other one in Hanoi can be reached at: +84 91 308 9165. They are available for any assistance and queries, the Indian mission said.
“In a tragic incident, a boat carrying several Indian tourists has capsized near Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam,” the embassy said in a post on X.
Minister Nara Lokesh spoke to senior officials at AP Bhavan regarding the boat accident in Vietnam and directed them to coordinate with the Central Government and extend all possible assistance to the affected persons.
The Government of Telangana’s General Administration (NRI) Department has also established a control room to coordinate rescue and assistance efforts and provide information to the families of the affected persons.
Control room contact numbers are as follows: 9885371189, 7997959754, 9989654807, 7997959779
(With inputs from PTI.)
This post was last modified on July 11, 2026 8:53 pm