Man tells of escape from capsized Ha Long Bay tourist boat
A man who survived the capsizing of a tour boat in Ha Long Bay has told how he escaped by swimming out through a window underwater.
Dang Anh Tuan, 36, was on holiday with 11 university friends, when the Wonder Sea overturned on a sightseeing tour during a sudden thunderstorm.
Only three of his group survived, while the nine others, including a man who was travelling with his wife and three-year-old son, were among those killed.
The Vietnamese government initially said 38 people had died, but later revised the toll down to 35.
Four other people remain missing from the boat, authorities said, after cutting the estimate of those aboard from 53 to 49.
Mr Tuan said a storm quickly covered the sky, bringing high winds and pouring rain, as the boat embarked on a three-hour trip.
He said the passengers asked for the boat to turn back to shore, but the crew reassured them they were almost at their destination and kept moving forward.
The Wonder Sea is towed to a shipyard after capsizing. Pic: Huy Han/AP
“The boat capsized in less than a minute. It rained for about 15 minutes, and then the boat started to shake vigorously, tables and chairs were jostled around and seconds later the boat overturned,” he said.
“Water gushed in and I lost all orientation. I tried to breathe. But more water came in.
“I took a deep breath, got rid of my life vest and dove down. I saw a streak of light and followed it to swim out, escaping the boat, and then I climbed on the overturned boat to look for help.”
Tourist boats cruise in Halong Bay. File pic: Reuters
Dang Thuy Linh’s family are missing. Pic: AP
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Mr Tuan survived by clinging on to the capsized boat and its propellers, waiting for another two hours until the rain stopped and rescue workers arrived.
They saved 11 people, including a 14-year-old boy trapped for four hours in the overturned hull, but one survivor died in hospital, according to the VNExpress newspaper.
The newspaper said most of the passengers were Vietnamese tourists from Hanoi, including about 20 children, and the boat turned upside down because of strong winds.
Mr Tuan escaped with minor cuts, but one of his friends suffered multiple injuries to his head while another cut his tendons as he tried to escape the boat through a broken window.
Speaking from her hospital bed, survivor Dang Thuy Linh said her family and friends were still missing.
“There are still my husband, my child(ren), my friend and their family. I hope they will all be rescued soon,” she said.
“Don’t leave anyone in the boat. The air is running thin and hope for surviving is running out.”
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A tropical storm is also moving towards the area, with a national weather forecast predicting Storm Wipha will hit Vietnam‘s northern region next week, including Ha Long Bay’s coast.
Ha Long Bay is around 125mi (200km) north east of Hanoi and attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year.
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security
Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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