Screams for help and panic as tourists rescued from fatal Laos ferry disaster

It was supposed to be an ordinary Thursday in Laos, where Anthonin Levelu’s father was born.

Instead, the 30-year-old French national found himself among more than 140 people, mostly tourists, on a ferry that capsized on the Mekong River. All but three are thought to have reached safety.

Videos online show a scene of chaos; People are screaming for help, children are crying, and passengers are scrambling to get their belongings.

Mr Levelu remembers seeing a mother and her two children on the ferry, but they were nowhere to be seen on the rescue boat.

On Monday, Lao media reported that they had found the body of a woman named Pany Her. Rescuers are still searching for her two children.

‘Only 15 life jackets’

The boat had set sail last Thursday from the riverside town of Huay Xay to the historic city of Luang Prabang in northern Laos, a common route along the Mekong and popular with visitors to the country.

there was There are 118 tourists and 29 locals on the boat, including 4 crew members. when it hit submerged rocks, according to an official report published by the Laotian Times.

Within minutes the ferry began to sink.

” [crew] We were completely unprepared for this. There was a lot of confusion…it happened really quickly,” Mr. Levelu said.

“You know, what’s confusing and worrying is that there are so few life jackets, 15 life jackets maximum… [it] It was really bad.”

As the boat continued to capsize, passengers shouted for help to a passing boat, but the boat did not stop; This was probably because, according to Mr. Levelu, the boat was relatively small.

But the second one stopped and let them in. But according to British tourist Bradley Cook, another passenger on the ship, this simply “made the situation worse”.

The 27-year-old told the BBC that as the rescue boat approached the ferry, people began to shift positions and shift their weight to one side of the ferry, causing water to fill the hull faster.

Mr Cook went to the other side to climb onto the roof and from there jumped onto the rescue ferry.

While some citizens managed to climb onto the ferry, others reached the ferry by swimming, holding on to the rails and being pulled by others. Among those rescued were Mr Levelu and Mr Cook.

But others were less lucky.

Mr Levelu said he saw a Lao mother and her two children at the back of the sinking ferry helping some passengers retrieve their luggage.

However, when he boarded the rescue ferry, he realized they were not there.

“Some people were crying and panicking. It was a complete mess,” Mr Levulu said. “[But] “I wasn’t afraid for my life… I was more affected by the three people who were missing.”

Lao media later reported that the body of local woman Pany Her was found near Luang Prabang.

Another passenger, 19-year-old Gabrielius Baranovičius, told the BBC that he and his friend, both Lithuanians, did not panic at first.

“We were just kidding,” Mr. Baranovičius said, adding that his attitude quickly changed when he realized they were sinking.

After boarding the rescue boat, Mr. Baranovičius said he started recording what was happening on the ship “but then I heard other people screaming so loud that [I] “He turned off the camera and went directly to help other people in the water get into the boat.”

Tens of thousands of tourists use slow boat and speedboat services each year along the 300 km (185 mi) route connecting Huay Xay, Pak Beng and Luang Prabang, according to the Mekong River Commission.

For Mr. Cook, the experience was “terrifying” and left him wanting to get out of Luang Prabang, “even though everyone is really friendly here” because it was a constant reminder to him of his narrow escape.

Speaking to the BBC from Vang Vieng, a town in northern Laos, Mr Cook said he planned to make an insurance claim for broken electrical items and missing cash, although he was unsure who would be held responsible.

“I assume it was just a freak accident,” he said, but added that he wasn’t sure “how preventable” the ferry capsizing was.

This is not the first time such a collapse has occurred in Laos.

In September 2023, a passenger boat traveling on the same river corridor between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang capsized on the Mekong in Pakbeng province, resulting in the deaths of three people.

The boat reportedly became entangled in a fishing net, causing a loss of control and causing the boat to capsize due to strong currents.