7 bodies of Cambodia boat sinking victims found on Vietnam beach

Officials said two bodies were found with Chinese identity cards on a beach on Phu Quoc Island

The vessel with more than 40 people on board capsized off Cambodia’s Sihanoukville last week, with 30 survivors rescued by authorities

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A survivor rescued from a sinking boat recuperates in a hospital in Cambodia’s Preah Sihanouk province on September 24. Photo: AP

Published: 3:27pm, 30 Sep 2022Updated: 3:35pm, 30 Sep 2022

Seven bodies have been found washed ashore on a beach in southern Vietnam, authorities said on Friday, a week after a boat with more than 40 people on board sank off the neighbouring Cambodian coastal town of Sihanoukville.

The bodies were found on a beach on Phu Quoc Island, which straddles the border area between the countries, Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said in a news release.

It said two bodies were found with Chinese identity cards and their decomposing state “is also quite consistent with the time when the boat wreck occurred, a week ago in the Cambodian sea, not far from Phu Quoc”.

Cambodian authorities said the boat sank early on Thursday last week, with 30 survivors rescued by Cambodian and Vietnamese authorities.

“The bodies found were suspected to be related to the sunken boat,” the ministry said.

Cambodia is a popular destinations for tourists and businesspeople from China, but many Chinese have been unable to travel in the past few years because of Beijing’s Covid-19 restrictions.