Tourist boat sinks in Vietnam bay; 12 dead

One night boat full of sleeping tourists, including Americans, Australians and British, sank early Thursday in picturesque Ha Long Bay Vietnam, killing 11 foreigners and their Vietnamese guide, officials said.

Nine foreign tourists and six people were rescued from the cold water by other tour boats anchored nearby. They were rushed to a hospital as teams scoured the area for more survivors.

The rescued reported a shelf of seeing the wooden board-live ship rip off, followed by the flowing water from overflowing the boat and quickly pulling it down about five hours near Titov Island, said Vu Van Dun, the chief administrator of Quang Ninh province.

"Crew members tried to stop water from coming in and warned the tourists who were sleeping, but the water came and the boat sank quickly," he said. "All of the 12 deceased people who were in the cabins."

There were 27 people on the boat, including six crew members, Thin said. It was anchored alongside dozens of other cruise ships, and the weather conditions were calm at the time of the incident.

Twelve bodies were found, including that of tourists from the U.S., Australia and Britain, said Ngo Van Hung, Director of Ha Long Bay Management Board. The body of a Vietnamese guide was also recovered and all of the dead are sent to Bai Chay hospital for identification.

Japanese news agency Kyodo reported that a Japanese was among the dead.

Quoc Duy Giang, deputy director of the hospital, said three foreign tourists, including men from the USA and France and a woman from Switzerland, were admitted to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

"They were panicking," said Duy. "They were given first aid and have already returned to their hotels."

Dan Tri online newspaper quoted Doe Thong, provincial vice governor, as saying the tourists were on board from 11 countries, including the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, Denmark and Sweden.

Ha Long Bay is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Vietnam, near the Chinese border in the Gulf of Tonkin about three hours east of the capital, Hanoi. Many visitors opt for one night sleeping on boats to sail to the picturesque bay, a World Heritage Site filled with limestone formations.

In 2009, a tour boat sank during a storm on the bay, killing five, including three foreign tourists. In 2006, a powerful storm in the bay several boats capsized, killing 13 people, although no tourists were among the dead.

In 2002, high winds capsized two tourist boats, killing a number of foreigners.