Vietnam Boat Accident: 2 From Andhra Dead; Lava Mobiles Staff Among Passengers

At least 15 Indian tourists died after a boat capsized near Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam on Saturday. The speedboat was carrying 32 Indian passengers and four crew members.

Many of those on board were employees and distributors of Lava Mobiles from Andhra, a company representative told The Indian Express. The company makes smartphones and other electronics. Several of the deceased are believed to be from Andhra Pradesh, though the exact number is not yet clear.

According to a report in PTI, two people from Andhra are dead while three were hospitalised. "Preliminary information indicates that two persons from Machilipatnam are among the deceased. We are coordinating with the Indian Embassy and the Vietnamese authorities, and further details will be shared after official confirmation," sources from Andhra Pradesh told the news agency.

Preliminary reports indicated that Jalalakshmi and Jayashree, both from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, were among the deceased. Verification of the identities of other affected Indian nationals was underway.

Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh has spoken to the Ministry of External Affairs and is tracking the situation, his office said. State minister Kondapalli Srinivas added that officials are collecting data on how many victims are from the state, according to ANI.

Reports in the Vietnam media claimed that the vessel flipped over about 400 metres off Hon May Rut Ngoai, a small island in the An Thoi archipelago. Local authorities said strong waves and windy conditions were reported at the time.

According to Vietnamese media, 21 people were rescued. Two of them are in critical condition. All 15 who died were tourists.

Names of 32 Indian tourists who were onboard the boat:

• Balasubramani Palanisamy
• Selvam Pitchiah
• Senthil Kumar Jayavel
• Sivakumar Muthukumarasamy
• Nirmal Kumar Sethuraman
• Muruga Prabhu Arumugam
• Ruban Selva Nathan Jacob Yesupatham
• Sridhar Nagalamadugu
• Vigneshvar Nallapeta Adiseshaiah
• Ramasubbu Dharmarajan
• Abuthalkha Radhakrishnan Gopal
• Sridhar Annavi
• Vamsheedar Zahirudeen
• Senjadaivel Sundarrajan
• Cellur Ramraj Kuppusamy
• Sohan Raviteja
• Shaik Abdullah Abdul Majeed
• Rajeev Kalaivanan
• Balaji Natesan
• Vinaya Kumar Chithapuram Bhaskara
• Ravisankar Sugumaran
• Vipul Uttam Chand
• Santosh Kumar Shantilal Jain
• Babu Kuppuswamy
• Alagurajan Sivasamy
• Vasantha Kumar Anandhan
• Sreedhar Mudiam
• Jaya Lakshmi Gelli
• Kishore Gelli
• Avicot Cheriyan Thomas Thomas
• Loveni Thomas
• Ramesh Kumar Pachiyappan

In a separate statement released on its social media pages, the embassy said, "In a tragic incident, a boat carrying several Indian tourists has capsized near Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam a few hours ago," the embassy said in a social media post. It announced the establishment of emergency control rooms at the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City and in Hanoi, providing contact numbers for affected families seeking information.

PM Modi Expresses Grief

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a statement on X, said that he is extremely saddened to learn about the tragic news of a boat accident involving Indian nationals.

He said, My sincere condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. My prayers for the early recovery of the injured survivors.

Our Embassy and Consulate are providing all possible assistance. Our officials are also in close contact with the Vietnamese authorities."

Visuals from the scene showed the boat overturned in choppy water, with rescuers searching for survivors and bodies placed on the shore.

The embassy has shared helpline numbers for anyone needing assistance:

Ho Chi Minh City: +84 36 281 7930, +84 91 552 37 14, +84 33 452 0414

Hanoi: +84 91 308 9165

Authorities are still investigating the exact cause of the accident.