Authorities were still searching yesterday for two South Korean tourists missing after the collision of a speed boat and a fishing boat off the Phi Phi islands.
The accident occurred on Sunday evening when a speedboat, Sea Star 29, crashed into a fishing boat, Sin Pichai 1, in the Andaman sea between the islands of Phi Phi and Phuket. The speedboat sank upon collision.
It was carrying more than 40 passengers, including South Koreans, Chinese and Western tourists. Several of the passengers were injured. Two of them, identified as Yuwin Wo, 31, and An San Yong, 28, were not recovered from the crash site.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash, but they suspect it had to do with rain and low visibility.
The Phuket marine police and a rescue team from the Kusol Dharma Foundation yesterday combed the area for them. The Third Naval Area Command under the Royal Thai Fleet sent a Dornier helicopter from its base in Phuket to scan the Andaman sea by air. Marine police said they intended to dock at Phi Phi islands overnight and continue the search today.
The Phuket Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said yesterday 44 people were in the boat: four Thai crew, two tour guides, one boat photographer and 37 tourists.
The tourists comprised 23 Chinese, four South Koreans, two Australians, one French, one Japanese, one Briton and five Thais.