Death toll from Thai tourist boat sinking rises to 27

By Max Constant

BANGKOK (AA) – The death toll from a boat sinking during an annual rite at a mosque in central Thailand has risen to 27 with the discovery of the body of a 3-year-old boy.

The child’s body was recovered three kilometers down river from the location of Sunday’s accident in the old capital city Ayutthaya, the provincial disaster prevention and mitigation office chief told the Bangkok Post.

Two people -- a two-year-old boy and an 89-year-old woman -- remain missing and are presumed dead, according to Udomsak Khaonuna.

Another 50 people were injured in the incident, during which time authorities believe the vessel on the Chao Phraya River was carrying more than 150 Thai-Muslims returning from a religious ceremony paying homage to Muslim teachers in Ayutthaya, located 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok.

The boat, which had a registered capacity of 50 passengers, sank during its return to its departure point in Nonthaburi, in Bangkok’s northwestern outskirts, while approaching an embankment and as its driver attempted to avoid another boat.

The tour boat’s helmsman was arrested Monday and is detained at the Ayutthaya jail.

He has been charged with recklessness causing deaths and injuries, with operating a boat carrying more passengers than permitted and with having an expired boat driver’s license.

Marine department workers have lifted the vessel from the riverbed using two cranes.

The boat will be hauled around five km downstream before police investigators and marine department officials conduct a thorough examination of its condition.

Nath Jabjai, deputy director-general of the marine department, a government agency, said the boat’s hull suffered a seven-meter long crack when it hit the embankment, causing the vessel to sink when the hull filled with water.

According to local residents in Ayutthaya, a similar accident occurred around five years ago due to a ferry being overloaded with passengers.