Vietnamese police detained Sunday the captain of a speedboat that capsized off southern Vietnam, killing 15 Indian tourists.
The speedboat was carrying 32 Indian tourists and four Vietnamese crew members when it overturned less than half a kilometer from shore Saturday afternoon, shortly after leaving Hon May Rut Ngoai island near Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island, authorities said.
The captain, Nguyen Hong Hai, 57, is under investigation for alleged violations of waterway transport safety regulations, state media reported.
Sixteen survivors of Saturday’s speedboat accident have been discharged from the hospital and are returning to India, the Indian Embassy in Hanoi said on social media Sunday. One remains in critical condition in a Vietnamese hospital.
The bodies of the victims were being transported to Ho Chi Minh City before being flown to India after official formalities, according to the embassy.
Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that “initial assessments by Vietnamese authorities suggest this was an unavoidable incident caused by extreme weather conditions” that shifted rapidly.
VNA/Tran Van Si via AP
State media quoted sailors involved in the rescue effort as saying there were high waves but no rain at the time, and several other tourist boats were operating in the area.
The boat capsizes moments after departure
All 15 victims were on a company trip organized by India’s Lava International, a smartphone and consumer electronics manufacturer, for its employees, distributors and retail partners, the company said.
Ashish Kumar, a 48-year-old distributor for the company from the Indian city of Guntur who took part in the trip, said the party had split into three groups to travel between islands when he witnessed the accident from shore.
The first boat had already departed while the other two were still docked when it capsized.
The boat was relatively close to shore when it flipped, he told The Associated Press over the phone. “We screamed, ‘Help! Help!'”
Nearby boats immediately rushed to the rescue. “But by then it was too late,” he said.
Rough seas hamper rescue efforts
Ha Van Loc, piloting a nearby boat at the time of the accident, told state media VN Express that he spotted the overturned vessel at around 12:40 p.m. local time. He saw about a dozen people clinging to the boat’s hull, while others – without life jackets – were struggling in the water.
“They were being submerged by the waves but still waving their hands for help,” Loc said.
He said he couldn’t get close to the upturned speedboat because of the rough seas and was afraid his boat’s propeller could injure those in the water. He and his crew threw life buoys attached to ropes and pulled four survivors aboard within 10 minutes.
Realizing others were still trapped, Loc recorded a short video and alerted other boat operators in the area.
Within minutes, nearly a dozen boats and rescue teams arrived at the scene.
Rough seas with waves up to 10 feet high hampered the rescue. Jet Skis were able to reach survivors more easily than larger boats and brought them ashore one by one.
State media VN Express cited passengers as saying the captain told everyone to wear life jackets before departure, but many carried them in their hands. When the speedboat capsized, some passengers were trapped inside and had to escape through the bow or windows, the report said.
Kumar, the eyewitness, said that there was no emergency medical care available at the shore when survivors were brought back.
On shore, tourists and tour company staff took turns performing CPR and giving oxygen to the victims, state media said.
The 17 injured were admitted to Phu Quoc Sun Hospital after two emergency resuscitation doctors and one nurse were dispatched.
The Indian Embassy in Vietnam said 10 of the dead were from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, three from Andhra Pradesh and two from Kerala.
State media reports on Sunday said several tourism companies suspended their speedboat services between the islets after the deadly capsize.
Popular tourist destination
Hon May Rut island is about 6 miles south of Phu Quoc, one of Vietnam’s most popular beach destinations. Both are known for their white sandy beaches and clear waters, drawing millions of domestic and foreign tourists each year.
India is one of Vietnam’s fastest-growing tourism markets. The Southeast Asian country welcomed about 750,000 Indians in 2025, up nearly 50% from the previous year.
Officials attribute the growth to an expanding network of direct flights between major Indian and Vietnamese cities and Vietnam’s liberal e-visa policy.
Phu Quoc has seen a major tourism boom in recent years, with more than 1.8 million foreigners visiting the island last year.
Boating accidents are a regular occurrence in the Southeast Asian nation, where extreme weather, frequent flooding and inadequate maintenance have led to tragedies.
In 2011, an anchored boat packed with sleeping tourists sank in Vietnam’s scenic Ha Long Bay, killing 12 tourists from nine countries, including two Americans.