Two Cambodians die in Thailand boat crash
TWO Cambodians and two Thais died after their fishing boat crashed into a commercial ship off the coast of Thailand on Saturday afternoon.
According to a post on the National Police website, Thai regional naval commander Banchub Purthidaeng was informed of the crash by a naval patrol team on Saturday.
There were eight individuals in total on the fishing boat, which sank after the crash 61 kilometres off the coast of Chonburi province, with three of the sailors hailing from Thailand and five from Cambodia.
Thai authorities were able to rescue the four survivors, but could not locate the victims’ bodies until the following day.
Regional naval chief of staff Sang Ruong Chanso confirmed the deaths to Cambodian police, saying the bodies were discovered at 7am yesterday.
“Mr Sang Ruong Chanso said four bodies were found, among them two Cambodian workers and two Thai . . . a helicopter flew around to inspect the location and a warship was assigned to check area 995,” the post read. Ultimately, officials equipped with scuba equipment were able to dive down and find the missing bodies.
The bodies are being kept at a nearby hospital to be identified by relatives.
Banchub said the identity of the commercial ship and its owner is still unclear, but Thai police are investigating.
Cambodian police and immigration officials could not be reached yesterday.