Four foreigners have been rescued after a cruise ship overturned in the Han River, located in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang, on Saturday evening.

The cruise ship Thao Van 2 carrying 46 people, including 26 tourists from the northern province of Bac Kan, capsized about 10 minutes after its departure at around 8:30 pm.

A total of 43 people aboard have been brought to safety so far, four of whom are travelers from Malaysia. The identities of the others have remained unknown.

Most of the victims are being treated at hospitals across the city.

Three victims who remain nowhere to be found include Trinh Kim Phuong, 7, Trinh Tien Hung, 4, who are both from Bac Kan, and Pham Tan Cuong, 46, from the south-central province of Binh Dinh.

Leaders of the city arrived at the scene shortly after being notified of the situation to supervise search and rescue missions.

According to Dang Viet Dung, vice chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, about 70 professional divers, along with military units, have been assigned to search for the victims.

In order to prevent the passengers from drifting out to the ocean as tides fall, five fishing boats were asked to cast their nets to block the entrance of the Han River leading to the sea.

The cruise ship was salvaged at 2:00 am with no passengers found on board.

Several people survived by swimming ashore, while others were saved by boats and speedboats operating nearby, competent authorities stated, adding that some victims could possibly drift away from the sunken ship.    

At around 6:30 on Sunday morning, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters found over 15 boats of local fishermen carrying the diving teams searching for the missing victims along the part of the river near the accident scene.

Rescue teams search for missing victims on the Han River in Da Nang City on the morning of June 5, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Initial investigation

According to Huynh Duc Tho, chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee, the operator of the cruise ship did not have any legitimate license.

The craft was previously a fishing boat and upgraded to a tourist ship, Tho added.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thuong Hai, one of the lucky survivors, said that none of the passengers on board were wearing life jackets before the incident, adding that the cruise ship operator did not remind them to put on one either.

Many tourists were on the second floor of the ship prior to the accident, Hai recounted, stating that could cause the ship to quickly submerge.

The passenger said that there could be around 50 passengers on the boat, though Vo Quoc Hung, owner of the vessel, claimed that the number was only 38.

Hung has been summoned by local police officers to support investigation.

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