All bodies accounted for after tour boat disaster Last victim is likely Chinese, as indicated by RMB notes

The bodies of all 47 Chinese passengers who died after their tour boat sank off the coast of Phuket, Thailand, a week ago have been found, the island province’s governor said on Wednesday.

At 2:35 pm, Thai authorities and a rescue team from Ramunion, a Chinese NGO, retrieved a body in waters near Phi Phi Island, about 20 kilometers off Phuket.

“The body is so far unidentified but we found RMB bank notes in his clothes so it is likely to be the last missing Chinese passenger,” said Xu Lijun, the team leader.

Norraphat Plodthong, governor of Phuket province, told reporters at a news conference on the island that an initial investigation indicates that the body belongs to a Chinese passenger, and was wearing the same type of life vest used on the Phoenix, one of the boats that sank.

The body will be further examined and identified later on Wednesday after being brought back to shore, the governor said.

The Phoenix and another tourist boat, the Sereneta, capsized in rough seas off the southern Thai resort island of Phuket on July 5. All the dead and missing were tourists from the Phoenix, which carried 89 passengers, including 87 Chinese.

Of the 47 dead, five have been cremated and two have been transported back to China at the request of family members, Norraphat said earlier on Wednesday.

For the search and rescue teams the priority now is to retrieve the last body belonging to a male passenger, which is trapped in under the wreckage of the Phoenix — 42 meters beneath the surface — Norraphat said. The teams’ attempt to recover the body failed on Wednesday because of rough seas.

Also on Wednesday, a week after the tragedy, which occurred as the tourist boats headed back to Chalong Pier after a daylong outing, many heartbroken friends and family of the victims laid flowers at the pier and mourned for their loved ones.

Surachate Hakparn, deputy chief of the Thai Tourist Police Bureau, told reporters that an inspection at the shipyard in Phuket where the Phoenix was believed to have been built found that the boat fell short of safety standards for its engines and water pumps, the Bangkok Post reported on Wednesday.

An engine from a 10-wheel truck had been adapted and installed in the boat, which was not standard practice and posed a risk, Surachate said. The water pump was also smaller than standard.

DONG HUI / FOR CHINA DAILY Yangyang the dolphin is lifted out of a water tank at Yangzhou Ocean World in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, on Tuesday. It was given a gastroscopy — an examination of its stomach. Trainers found plastic residue in the animal’s mouth and feared Yangyang...

PENG ZIYANG / FOR CHINA DAILY Some rescued Chinese tourists and Thai monks participate in a memorial for victims of the sunken boat in Phuket, Thailand, on Wednesday. The service was held on the seventh day after the tragedy, a time that is traditionally believed to be the...