The boat with the tourists had barely left the shore when it capsized, says the witness

Vietnamese Coast Guard personnel rescue tourists after a boat carrying Indian tourists capsized near Hon May Rut Ngoai Island, Phu Quoc Special Zone, An Giang, July 11, 2026 in An Giang. Photo credit: ANI

A boat carrying Indian tourists capsized off an island in southern Vietnam on Saturday (July 11, 2026) had barely traveled 300m to 400m from shore when it suddenly capsized, an Indian national who witnessed the tragedy said.

Ashish Kumar, a 48-year-old distributor for a mobile phone company from Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur, said the tourists were divided into groups and taken to the island as part of a company trip. “We were all 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,” Kumar told PTI over phone.

He said one of the three boats carrying 32 Indian tourists left Hon May Rut Ngoai Island for another island, while the remaining two groups were still on Hon May Rut Ngoai taking photographs.

“The incident happened around 1.30pm local time. The boat had barely gone 300 to 400 meters when it overturned. We were taking pictures and it happened before we could react,” he said.

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

No medical teams

He said rescue teams arrived at the scene soon after and took the survivors and bodies back to shore. However, “there were no medical teams to perform CPR. We are all in a state of shock,” he said.

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

The group has since returned to their hotel, he added.

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

“We are in constant contact with the Embassy of India in Vietnam and local authorities to gather information about the safety and well-being of our people. Our immediate priority is to extend all possible support to those affected and their families,” the company said.

It said its teams in both India and Vietnam are in regular contact with the families and are providing all possible assistance.

According to Vietnamese media reports, fifteen Indian tourists were killed in the incident. The speedboat also had four crew members on board at the time of the accident.

Published – 12 Jul 2026 13:14 IST