Thai hospital low on morgue space after tourist boat sinking
phuket/bangkok — A hospital morgue in Phuket is running out of space after at least 38 people were killed in a boat accident, authorities said on Saturday, as distraught relatives arrived on the Thai holiday island to identify loved ones.
Rescuers resumed a search for 18 people from the sunken vessel, the Phoenix, which capsized in rough waters on Thursday carrying 93 Chinese tourists and 12 Thai crew and tour guides in one of Thailand’s worst recent accidents.
Thirty-eight of those on board have been confirmed dead and 49 rescued, officials said.
Ambulances unloaded bodies at the hospital on Phuket’s east coast that received most of the casualties, as staff escorted visibly distressed family members to a waiting room. The hospital was storing some bodies
in a makeshift morgue built from two refrigerated containers, a Reuters reporter at the site said.
“Urgent! The Chinese embassy is calling for 40 freezers,” the Thai government said in an appeal, urging potential donors to contact the hospital. Similar calls figured on Chinese social media.
About 20 freezers have been donated, said Jessada Chokdamrongsook,
a health ministry official.
Rear Admiral Charoenpol Kumrasri, a deputy commander of the Thai navy, who is helping to lead the rescue effort, said he was confident divers would complete their search of the sunken vessel by Saturday.
“After this evening, if we do not find any more missing in the wreckage, the missing will float to the surface and we will be able to find them,” hesaid. Some Thais and tour operators have questioned why the boat was at sea during bad weather. The China government has pressed for a quick probe into the cause of the accident, the Thai government’s media office in Phuket said.
Thai junta number two Prawit Wongsuwan has ordered an investigation into why the Phoenix appeared to have ignored a weather warning, while police said they would seek to charge the captain and owner with negligence.
Tourism is a key driver of growth in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, making up 12 per cent of gross domestic product, and the most foreigners come from China.
The Phoenix sank after being hit by five-metre-high waves in a storm off Phuket, whose beaches and night life draw tourists.—