Nighttime Tour Boat Collision Kills 1 in Thailand

Bangkok
Photo by Freeimages.com/Saniros Namwong

The Associated Press, September 28, 2015

BANGKOK (AP) — A trip to see fireflies has turned into tragedy in Thailand when two boats collided in the night, killing a woman from Hungary and seriously injuring a South Korean along with nearly two dozen other tourists, police said Saturday.

One boat with 21 South Koreans and two Hungarians was returning at the end of its trip when it was struck by an empty boat going in reverse, said police Lt. Col. Bhakin Sivamethakul.

Around 20 other people, mainly from South Korea, also suffered injuries Friday night at Amphawa, a popular tourist destination about 60 kilometers (35 miles) west of Bangkok, he said.

Bhakin said that the 61-year-old Hungarian tourist was hit on the head and died. Her 62-year-old husband was injured. A 26-year-old Korean woman who was severely injured was in the intensive care unit, but doctors said her condition was not critical.

Bhakin said the drivers of the two boats both face a charge of causing death through negligence, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment, as well as failure to navigate a vessel in the proper direction.

 

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