Boat carrying tourists had barely left shore when it capsized, says witness

An Indian citizen who witnessed the tragedy said that on Saturday, July 11, 2026, the boat carrying Indian tourists off the coast of an island in South Vietnam suddenly capsized while 300 m – 400 m away from the shore.

Ashish Kumar, a 48-year-old distributor of a mobile phone company in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, said the tourists were divided into groups and ferried to the island as part of a company tour. “We all went there as dealers, distributors and employees of Lava Mobile. We reached Vietnam on July 9 and were supposed to return to India on Sunday morning,” Mr. Kumar said. PTI on the phone.

He said that one of the three boats carrying 32 Indian tourists set out from Hon May Rut Ngoai island to another island, while the remaining two groups were still taking photographs in Hon May Rut Ngoai.

“The incident occurred around 13.30 local time. The boat had only traveled 300-400 meters when it overturned. We were taking photographs and the incident occurred before we could react,” he said.

“The boat had barely left the island. We were all screaming for help,” Mr. Kumar said, adding that the weather conditions were not adverse. “There was a little bit of wind, but that’s to be expected on an island,” he said.

There is no medical team

He said rescue teams quickly reached the scene and brought the survivors and bodies back to shore. However, he said, “There was not even a medical team to perform CPR. We are all in a state of shock.”

While he was traveling alone, several members of the group came with their families, Mr. Kumar said. “A distributor friend of mine was traveling on a boat with his wife. While he was fighting for his life in the hospital, his wife died,” he said.

He added that the group then returned to their hotel.

In a statement, Lava International said it was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy and confirmed that some channel partners and team members were among those involved.

“We are in constant contact with the Indian Embassy in Vietnam and local authorities to gather information on the safety and welfare of our people. Our immediate priority is to provide all possible support to those affected and their families,” the company said. he said.

He said his teams in both India and Vietnam were in regular contact with the families and provided all possible assistance.

According to reports in the Vietnamese media, 15 Indian tourists were killed in the incident. There were also four crew members on the speedboat when the accident occurred.