Four bodies found in sunken boat in Thailand

BANGKOK, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Four bodies among the total six missing people from a sunken boat in Phuket were discovered on Wednesday afternoon, Police Lieutenant Colonel Wanlop Phungphaga, Inspector of Phuket Marine Police Station told Xinhua.

The six missing people, including five foreign divers and a Thai man, were the victims of the boat which sank in the Andaman Sea off Thailand's southern province of Phuket late Sunday night.

The four more bodies, which were discovered on Wednesday, have remained stuck inside the sunken boat, said Wanlop.

On Thursday morning, a search team consisting of three divers will attempt to take the four bodies out of the sunken boat, he said.

For the two other missing bodies, it is possible the bodies might also have been stuck inside the sunken boat, said Wanlop.

But the search team could not manage to search for them by Wednesday since they had limited time for searching, he said.

It is also possible the two other missing bodies might be swept away from the boat to other areas, he said.

On Tuesday, a combined-rescued team of the water police and navy of Phuket discovered the sunken boat, which is on the bottom at around 60-70-meter depth.

On late Sunday night, the navy base in Phuket was alerted by Dive Asia Company that its boat, which was carrying totally 30 passengers, failed to arrive at the Thachalong port in the city of Phuket province as scheduled.

The boat with the 30 passengers quickly sank after around two minutes of the immediate storm attack, said the sunken boat's caption.

The total 30 passengers included 19 foreign divers -- tourists and 11 staff of the boat. Among the 11 staff are three dive masters and eight boat workers, while some of these staff are foreign.

The combined-rescued team has worked to search for them since early Monday morning. By Monday, of the total, some 23 had been rescued and sent to a hospital after drifting on the sea.

Among the 23 rescued people, include eight Germans, eight boat workers, three Japanese, three Switzerlanders, and an Austrian.

And, on Tuesday, a female body was discovered by the combined-rescued team, but has yet to identify.
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