Trang: An investigation is underway following a boat accident in Sikao district that left a 68-year-old woman dead and several tourists injured, officials said yesterday.
The accident took place late on Saturday afternoon, when a long-tailed tourist boat carrying 14 people, including four children, overturned near Pak Meng bridge, they said.
The boat was returning from a tour in the sea off Trang when it suddenly began listing and capsized. Fortunately, the tourists onboard, who were wearing life jackets, were spotted by the crew of a nearby speedboat, who pulled them out of the water.
Once they reached the shore, the injured were taken to Sikao Hospital, where one of them, identified only Atchara, a 68-year-old woman from Songkhla's Hat Yai district, was pronounced dead. One of the injured was sent to Trang Hospital.
According to police, the boat was carrying 11 tourists -- seven adults and four children -- a tour guide, a boat operator and a boatman. A combined force of police from Sikao station, tourism police, marine and park officials inspected the scene.
The boat operator, identified only as Noppadon, 50, told police that as the boat was approaching the pier, the rudder control rope snapped, sending the tourists to one side of the boat, which caused the boat to tilt and overturn.
Trang governor Songkrod Sawangwong said police were investigating the cause of the incident with forensic investigators and marine officials inspecting the boat's wreckage to assess its condition prior to the incident.