Phuket (AP) — Five people reported to have been missing from the tour boat that sank in a storm off Phuket last week are alive, authorities said Monday, though it’s unclear if the five survived the sinking or never got on the boat.
Phuket Gov. Norrapat Plodthong said authorities are trying to verify their details and some of them may have left Thailand.
Norrapat said the development came after new information emerged from Thai immigration and the Chinese Embassy.
The new information also showed there were 89 tourists, 87 of them Chinese, on the boat, instead of the previous figure of 93, he said.
The number of people who are missing has been lowered from 14 to 10, including the five who are alive but whose whereabouts are unclear, he said. The death toll remains at 42, including a body still trapped under the wreckage.
The double-decker Phoenix capsized and sank late Thursday afternoon after it was hit by 5-meter waves in one of Thailand’s worse tourism-related disasters since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed thousands.
Officials said all of the dead were Chinese comprising 13 children, 18 women and 10 men. The age and sex of the body still under the wreckage wasn’t known.
Navy officials on Monday were attempting to flip the boat to retrieve the body and check for other possible victims. Special equipment has been brought in to lift up the boat, which is sitting some 45 meters beneath the surface, officials said.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has expressed his “profound sadness” in a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the letter released by the foreign ministry Monday, Prayuth said a full investigation is underway to find the cause of the tragedy and assured Xi his government is determined to ensure such incidents would not recur.
Prayuth arrived in Phuket on Monday to observe the operations and will visit Chinese relatives and survivors at a hospital.
China’s tourism ministry warned people to be careful during water-based activities abroad. The notice carried in Chinese media Monday said travelers should closely monitor weather and sea conditions and obey all warnings. Without mentioning Thailand, the notice said some cruise companies exercised lax management and maintained inadequate safety measures.
Police said the captain of the Phoenix has been charged with “careless conduct leading to death” and could face more than three years in jail.
