Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha arrived at the scene of the capsized ship to direct rescue work.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha directs rescue work for the capsized tourist boat. (Photo: Thanh Van/VNA)

On July 19, immediately after receiving information that a tourist boat had capsized in the Ti Top island area, Quang Ninh province, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha went directly to the scene to direct rescue work.

As of the evening of July 19, authorities in Quang Ninh province were still trying to rescue and search for victims of the capsized tourist boat in Ha Long Bay.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha sympathized with the loss and grief of the victims' families. He noted that the search and rescue forces must calculate the plan, and the safety of the search team must also be given top priority.

The Deputy Prime Minister said it is best to try to do it tonight, not to wait until tomorrow, when conditions become more complicated.

In particular, when carrying out rescue, forces must ensure means and technical conditions such as lighting, lamps, boat equipment, etc. to ensure absolute safety for rescue forces.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the highest goal is to try to search as quickly as possible in the hope of saving more survivors and trying to find all the victims' bodies.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that on the mainland, Quang Ninh province needs to quickly prepare a place to welcome victims' relatives to receive their loved ones' bodies; conduct activities to encourage, visit and care for the victims' families.

By 9:13 p.m., authorities had found 28 bodies, including passengers and crew members, and one person died in the hospital; and 10 people were rescued. The remaining people were taken to the hospital and are now in stable condition.

Initially, Quang Ninh province has provided support to the families of the deceased victims with 25 million VND/person, and to the injured victims with 8 million VND/person; at the same time, arranged accommodation and supported all accommodation expenses for the victims' families while in Quang Ninh.

Quang Ninh province mobilized maximum forces and means of the Provincial Military Command, the Provincial Border Guard Command, the Provincial Police, the Ha Long Bay Management Board, Naval Region 1, professional diving teams in the province with specialized sea vehicles and local search and rescue vehicles to serve the search and rescue work. Medical facilities are ready to support and handle situations when victims are found.

The Command Center was established including: Military Region 3 Command, Navy, Border Guard Command, Coast Guard Command, Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee at the headquarters of Border Guard Squadron 2 - Provincial Border Guard Command to continue commanding and operating the search and rescue organization.

Quang Ninh province continues to direct search and rescue forces to deploy measures to search for the remaining missing people at sea; focus on investigating the cause of the ship capsize; overcome the incident, and encourage the victims' relatives in accordance with regulations.

According to authorities, at around 3:30 p.m. on July 19, the Vinh Xanh 58 ship with license plate QN-7105 was carrying tourists visiting route 2 (Sung Sot Cave - Ti Top Island) on Ha Long Bay when it encountered a sudden storm and capsized (according to initial information, at 12:55 p.m. on July 19, the Vinh Xanh 58 ship was carrying tourists visiting route 2 (Sung Sot Cave - Ti Top Island) on Ha Long Bay.

At 1:30 p.m. the same day, the ship encountered a sudden storm, and at 2:05 p.m. it lost GPS signal connection and then sank.

It is known that the ship Bay Xanh 58 carried 48 passengers, all Vietnamese, and 5 crew members./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/pho-thu-tuong-tran-hong-ha-den-hien-truong-vu-lat-tau-chi-dao-cong-tac-cuu-nan-post1050574.vnp