Thai boat tragedy: 16 Chinese dead, 33 still missing

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Updated at 7:57 p.m. BJT

The Chinese Embassy confirmed that 16 Chinese tourists are dead, 78 rescued and 33 are still missing in the capsized Thai boat incident.

President Xi Jinping asked rescue teams to spare no efforts in searching for the missing tourists in the boat accident.

Updated at 4:05 p.m. BJT

At least four Chinese tourists were killed, 45 others remain missing after boats capsized in Thailand on Thursday night.

Among the 127 Chinese tourists onboard, a total of 78 have been rescued.

Updated at 2:40 p.m. BJT

China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism responded to Phuket tourist boats incident and asked its tourism office in Thailand to cooperate with the Chinese embassy to help investigate the case.

The ministry also urged the relevant provincial and municipal tourism departments to do its part in providing post-disaster support and aid to the victims.

Most of the Chinese tourists involved in Thursday's incident come from Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Liaoning, and Henan provinces and they booked their trip through online travel agencies.

Updated at 12:23 p.m. BJT

Twelve bodies were recovered on Friday, a day after two boats overturned off Phuket province in Thailand, bringing the total death toll to 13, according to Thai police.

A police officer said the bodies have been sent to a local hospital for identification, and that they were presumed to be Chinese tourists.

The first body retrieved by Thai rescuers at midnight belongs to a Chinese tourist, according to the Chinese Consulate-General in Songkhla.

Rescued people sit on a fishing boat after a boat they were traveling on capsized off the tourist island of Phuket, Thailand, July 5, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

Another 38 people are still missing.

As of Friday noon, 78 Chinese tourists have been rescued and the injured are receiving treatment in hospital.

The two boats, carrying a total of 127 Chinese tourists, including a 37-member tour group from a furniture company in east China's Zhejiang Province, capsized on Thursday afternoon in rough seas.

Thai rescue and paramedic personnel tend to rescued passengers of capsized tourist boat in rough seas at a port in Phuket, July 5, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

Thai officials said a weather warning had been in place when the boats set sail.

The Thai navy will arrange a helicopter and divers to assist the rescue operations on Friday morning.

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