2 Chinese killed, 34 tourists hurt when speedboats collide

PHUKET - Two Chinese tourists were killed in a collision between two fully loaded speedboat ferries on Wednesday, Phuket governor Chamroen Thippayapongthada said.

He said 34 other tourists were injured. Earlier reports said 26 were injured.

The two boats, carrying 62 Chinese and South Korean tourists, collided in the Hin Musang area around 11.45am on Wednesday.

There were 26 tourists on board the speedboat Chor Hongfa 20, and 36 tourists on the Chollakit 856.

The boats were travelling from Phuket to Ao Phangnga in Phangna and Phi Phi island in Krabi.

The two people killed were a male and a female Chinese passengers on the Chollakit 856, which sank after the collision.

The dead man was identified as Liang Grianfu and the dead woman as Yan Yang.

The tourists treated for injuries were from the Chollakit 856. 

The injured were being treated at Vachira Phuket Hospital, Mission Phuket Hospital, and a hospital run by the Phuket provincial administration organisation.

It was the second fatal boating accident involving tourists in less than a week.

On Sunday 28 people were injured when a speedboat carrying passengers back from an evening music concert on the island of Koh Samet smashed into a container ship.

Earlier story:

PHUKET -- Two tourists were killed and 26 survivors injured, seven badly, when two speedboats carrying foreign visitors collided in the sea off Phuket around noon on Wednesday.

The two boats were both heading from Phuket to the Mu Koh Phi Phi islands. The passengers were mainly Chinese and South Koreans. 

Hongfa 333 speedboat carrying 26 tourists and the Chollakit, with 36 passengers, collided in the Konghin Musang area around noon, said Pol Lt Col Prasert Srikhunnarat, deputy superintendent of Marine Police Division’s sub-division 8.

The collision occurred shortly after the two speedboats left Koh Khai Nok and Koh Khiew islands in Phuket for the Mu Koh Phi Phi islands in adjoining Krabi province.

One media report said the boats crashed head-on. It could not be confirmed. 

Marine police and rescue workers were rushed out to sea to help the floundering tourists, who were taken to Asia Marina and Ratsada piers in Phuket.

Two tourists, one man and one woman, were killed in the crash and 26 others sustained injuries. Seven were badly hurt. All injured passengers were sent to Phuket hospitals.

Police were investigating. The names and nationalities of those killed were not available.