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Deadly Vietnam tour boat survivor describes his escape

Deadly Vietnam tour boat survivor describes his escape

The Advertiser6 days ago
A Vietnamese man who survived the capsizing of a tour boat in Ha Long Bay has described his escape from the overturned vessel.
At least 38 people were killed in the accident and a search is continuing for five who are still missing, according to Vietnamese state media.
The Wonder Sea embarked early Saturday afternoon for a three-hour excursion in the popular bay, carrying 48 passengers and five crew.
Tuan 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 the boat moving forward.
"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," the 36-year-old fire extinguisher salesman 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," he said.
Tuan and three others survived by clinging to the capsized boat and its propellers, waiting another two hours until the rain stopped and rescuers arrived.
Rescue workers saved 11 people, but one died in hospital due to injuries, VNExpress newspaper said.
The boat turned upside down because of strong winds, the newspaper said.
A 14-year-old boy was rescued after four hours trapped in the overturned hull.
The newspaper said most of the passengers were tourists from Hanoi, including about 20 children.
Tuan was a holiday with 11 university friends, only three of whom survived.
Tuan has only minor cuts, but one of his friends suffered multiple head injuries and the other's tendons were cut by broken glass as he escaped the boat through a window.
The other nine members of the group were killed, including one who was travelling with his wife and three-year-old son. The wife and child were also drowned.
A tropical storm is also moving toward the area.
A national weather forecast said Storm Wipha was expected to hit Vietnam's northern region next week, including Ha Long Bay's coast.
A Vietnamese man who survived the capsizing of a tour boat in Ha Long Bay has described his escape from the overturned vessel.
At least 38 people were killed in the accident and a search is continuing for five who are still missing, according to Vietnamese state media.
The Wonder Sea embarked early Saturday afternoon for a three-hour excursion in the popular bay, carrying 48 passengers and five crew.
Tuan 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 the boat moving forward.
"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," the 36-year-old fire extinguisher salesman 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," he said.
Tuan and three others survived by clinging to the capsized boat and its propellers, waiting another two hours until the rain stopped and rescuers arrived.
Rescue workers saved 11 people, but one died in hospital due to injuries, VNExpress newspaper said.
The boat turned upside down because of strong winds, the newspaper said.
A 14-year-old boy was rescued after four hours trapped in the overturned hull.
The newspaper said most of the passengers were tourists from Hanoi, including about 20 children.
Tuan was a holiday with 11 university friends, only three of whom survived.
Tuan has only minor cuts, but one of his friends suffered multiple head injuries and the other's tendons were cut by broken glass as he escaped the boat through a window.
The other nine members of the group were killed, including one who was travelling with his wife and three-year-old son. The wife and child were also drowned.
A tropical storm is also moving toward the area.
A national weather forecast said Storm Wipha was expected to hit Vietnam's northern region next week, including Ha Long Bay's coast.
A Vietnamese man who survived the capsizing of a tour boat in Ha Long Bay has described his escape from the overturned vessel.
At least 38 people were killed in the accident and a search is continuing for five who are still missing, according to Vietnamese state media.
The Wonder Sea embarked early Saturday afternoon for a three-hour excursion in the popular bay, carrying 48 passengers and five crew.
Tuan 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 the boat moving forward.
"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," the 36-year-old fire extinguisher salesman 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," he said.
Tuan and three others survived by clinging to the capsized boat and its propellers, waiting another two hours until the rain stopped and rescuers arrived.
Rescue workers saved 11 people, but one died in hospital due to injuries, VNExpress newspaper said.
The boat turned upside down because of strong winds, the newspaper said.
A 14-year-old boy was rescued after four hours trapped in the overturned hull.
The newspaper said most of the passengers were tourists from Hanoi, including about 20 children.
Tuan was a holiday with 11 university friends, only three of whom survived.
Tuan has only minor cuts, but one of his friends suffered multiple head injuries and the other's tendons were cut by broken glass as he escaped the boat through a window.
The other nine members of the group were killed, including one who was travelling with his wife and three-year-old son. The wife and child were also drowned.
A tropical storm is also moving toward the area.
A national weather forecast said Storm Wipha was expected to hit Vietnam's northern region next week, including Ha Long Bay's coast.
A Vietnamese man who survived the capsizing of a tour boat in Ha Long Bay has described his escape from the overturned vessel.
At least 38 people were killed in the accident and a search is continuing for five who are still missing, according to Vietnamese state media.
The Wonder Sea embarked early Saturday afternoon for a three-hour excursion in the popular bay, carrying 48 passengers and five crew.
Tuan 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 the boat moving forward.
"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," the 36-year-old fire extinguisher salesman 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," he said.
Tuan and three others survived by clinging to the capsized boat and its propellers, waiting another two hours until the rain stopped and rescuers arrived.
Rescue workers saved 11 people, but one died in hospital due to injuries, VNExpress newspaper said.
The boat turned upside down because of strong winds, the newspaper said.
A 14-year-old boy was rescued after four hours trapped in the overturned hull.
The newspaper said most of the passengers were tourists from Hanoi, including about 20 children.
Tuan was a holiday with 11 university friends, only three of whom survived.
Tuan has only minor cuts, but one of his friends suffered multiple head injuries and the other's tendons were cut by broken glass as he escaped the boat through a window.
The other nine members of the group were killed, including one who was travelling with his wife and three-year-old son. The wife and child were also drowned.
A tropical storm is also moving toward the area.
A national weather forecast said Storm Wipha was expected to hit Vietnam's northern region next week, including Ha Long Bay's coast.
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As typhoons become more frequent and intense, Filipinos are getting married in flooded churches
As typhoons become more frequent and intense, Filipinos are getting married in flooded churches

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  • ABC News

As typhoons become more frequent and intense, Filipinos are getting married in flooded churches

Major flooding inundated parts of the Philippines this week as tropical storm Wipha made landfall, killing at least six people and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate. But one couple in Bulacan province was undeterred by the extreme weather, which fell on their wedding day — and chose to wade down the aisle in a flooded church. Jade Rick Verdillo and Jamaica Aguilar saw the decision to persevere in the unusual conditions as a symbol of their commitment to one another. "It's just a test. Before we got married, we were in this relationship for 10 years. We have been through a lot. "This is just one of the struggles that we've overcome." Images of the wedding went viral on social media, a symbol of Filipino resilience in the face of extreme weather. And wedding guests, knee deep in water, praised the couple. "It's an extraordinary wedding, like you will see love prevailed because even against weather, storm, rains, floods, the wedding continued for the blessing of our Lord, they become one," Jiggo Santos, a friend of the couple said. It's reportedly not the first time a Filipino couple has tied the knot in a submerged chapel. Two years ago, another pair walked down the flooded aisle of the same church, at the same time of year. Flooding is a perennial issue for the South-East Asian nation located in the Pacific typhoon belt, with at least 20 storms or typhoons striking each year. According to the UN, the country is the most prone to natural hazards in the world, and these hazards are becoming more intense due to climate change. Mahar Lagmay, a geologist at the University of the Philippines and an expert in disaster response, said infrastructure in the country was ill-equipped to deal with weather extremes made more likely by climate change. "Rainfall events that generate big floods are now becoming more frequent, they're not as rare anymore, they used to happen every one in 100 years," he said. "There should be a shift in mindset and try to entertain moving into a safer place that's safe and more liveable because these places are not liveable unless they convert it to a Venice type community." Dr Lagmay said construction of properties and roads over natural waterways and flood plains in the capital Manila rendered the city particularly vulnerable to inundation. But he said the country's disaster risk reduction efforts had made significant strides in recent decades, pointing out that the average number of fatalities from hydrometeorological hazards went down significantly from 1,000-1,250 average deaths a year for the period 1986-2013 to about 250 a year from 2014 to the present.

Top picks and insider tips: six experts on travelling in Asia like a pro
Top picks and insider tips: six experts on travelling in Asia like a pro

The Advertiser

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  • The Advertiser

Top picks and insider tips: six experts on travelling in Asia like a pro

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But each time we stop on this street food tour, it's all worthwhile, as I taste delectables I might otherwise never have known to order. Taking a food tour introduces you to dishes, venues and customs you can use to enhance your whole stay - so I suggest doing one as soon as you arrive in a new Asian city. FAVOURITE PLACE: Hong Kong, you've changed. Or maybe I have. Either way, it's now impossible for me to resist your charms. Whether stopping over on the way to Europe or the US, or choosing it as a standalone destination, Hong Kong offers everything on a platter: great shopping, nature and beaches on the city's doorstep, incredible festivals, the most delicious food - including, my favourite, glistening, succulent roast goose - and eye-opening cultural moments. On a recent stopover, I booked a ticket to the Tea House Theatre Experience at the architecturally extravagant Xiqu Centre. 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From waiting in line for a counter seat at a Tokyo ramen shop to stopping at a roadside stall for a fortifying Vietnamese iced coffee, I've lost count of the times locals have had to use sign language to explain that they don't accept cards. Now I avoid disappointment and always carry a few notes with me. FAVOURITE PLACE: When I lived in Chiang Mai, I'd often run out of reasons (but not excuses) to visit the spa. Nails done, hair done, eyebrows done, facials and massages up to date. The glorious quality, availability and affordability of pampering services in Thailand is like a dream. In more than 40 visits to the Land of Smiles, I reckon I've enjoyed thousands of Thai massages and still, I crave more. Now, whenever I get the time to return to Thailand, I'm lured south to the beautiful islands. There's a wellness retreat on Koh Samui, Absolute Sanctuary, that's just the tonic for world-weary souls and knotted shoulders. A spa treatment at Koh Samui's Absolute Sanctuary. 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Cheerfully hipster resistant, the town seems set in a friendlier, gentler age, and you can slow down and fall into step with locals gathering from dawn to dusk in generations-old street food joints for satay, dim sum, curry and more. Here you'll also find Malaysia's oldest watering hole, the 94-year-old Sinhalese Bar, with its saloon doors, pink walls and venerable octogenarian owner, Alfred. I've never met a pub so rich in personality and pedigree - just like Ipoh itself. Two Black bears at a rescued centre in Laos. Picture: Shutterstock ON THE WISH LIST: Australian-founded Free the Bears has rescued more than a thousand sun and moon bears in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos from unthinkable suffering on bear bile farms. I've always admired this charity's amazing work and hope one day to see it in action on a Bear Care Tour at their Kat Tang Si Bear Rescue Centre, Laos. It's set amid tropical rainforest at the foot of the spectacular Kuang Si falls about 30 kilometres south of Luang Prabang. In this beautiful setting you can meet and feed these gentle, intelligent creatures and see them enjoying their new-found freedom with their Laotian carers. Tour fees contribute to the bears' welfare, so your travel becomes a force for good, helping compassion conquer cruelty. TOP TIP: Don't be afraid of street food! If it smells good, it almost certainly is. Look out for vendors favoured by locals and learn the local phrase for "is it fresh?" A good cook will reply vehemently that yes of course it is - and then prove it. FAVOURITE PLACE: In Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, I try to support the traditional samlor pedicab drivers when possible - including catching one to the Anantara hotel's riverside Bodhi Terrace restaurant. The building was originally a 19th-century British consulate, complete with a four-elephant stable. The Ping River murmurs past as you settle in beneath a huge banyan tree to enjoy the best heart-starter breakfast in the north, eggs Lanna Benedict spiced with green chilli nam prik noom. Aloi maak (that's Thai for delicious). Later, cross the Iron Bridge to the river's quieter side, explore its shoreline and visit Wat Ket Karam, where the eccentric temple museum might be open or not. Traditional samlor drivers in Chiang Mai. Picture: John Borthwick ON THE WISH LIST: To travel the Mekong south from the Thai border at Sop Ruak (the Golden Triangle) to the Mekong Delta, in Vietnam, would complete some unfinished business on south-east Asia's longest river. I've done the almost 5000-kilometre-long Mekong in parts from Kunming in Yunnan, China, by river ferry, longtail speedboat, cargo shuttle and cruise vessel, but not as far as the South China Sea. Why do it? Simply because it's there. Worse reason: because it's being dammed and double-damned to oblivion. 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PS, never leave your passport as a deposit or "guarantee".

One dead as tropical storm Wipha weakens across Vietnam
One dead as tropical storm Wipha weakens across Vietnam

Perth Now

time3 days ago

  • Perth Now

One dead as tropical storm Wipha weakens across Vietnam

One person is dead and another is missing following heavy storms across northern Vietnam as Wipha weakened from a tropical storm into a depression. A 59-year-old man was killed in Nghe An province when a tree fell on his house before the storm made landfall, police said. Nghe An, which stretches from the coast to the mountainous Laos border, was among the areas hit hardest by heavy rain and floods. Another woman was swept away by floodwaters and remains missing. Four other people were injured. Flooding damaged hundreds of homes, destroyed crops and cut off remote communities, officials said. Nearly 400 households were evacuated from the province's landslide-prone areas, and several upland communities remain isolated without electricity or communication, officials said. Heavy rains triggered landslides that damaged roads, collapsed part of a school building and destroyed crops and forest. Wipha made landfall Tuesday morning with sustained winds of up to 102km/h before weakening as it moved inland. It caused power outages, disrupted farming operations and forced temporary airport closures in northern provinces. In neighbouring Thailand, heavy rain from Tuesday night into Wednesday triggered flooding in several northern provinces, swelling rivers and inundating homes. Authorities said more than 350 people were affected, though no casualties have been reported. They warned of possible flash floods and landslides.

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