Thai boat sinking: 38 dead

PHUKET, Thailand — Divers who entered the wreck of a tour boat that sank in a storm off the southern Thai resort island of Phuket described heartbreaking scenes of bodies of children found in the arms of their mothers, as the search continued Saturday for 18 mostly Chinese tourists missing in a disaster that has left dozens dead.

The death toll from Thursday’s tragedy climbed to 38, in Thailand’s biggest tourist-related disaster in years. It was not clear how many of the dead and missing were Chinese. The previous announced death toll was 33, with authorities saying all of those victims were Chinese.

Phuket Gov. Norraphat Plodthong announced at a news conference on Saturday afternoon that the death toll had climbed further, to 38, with 18 missing.

“It’s very difficult to see … it’s traumatic, it’s tragic but the best thing to do, our job as divers, is to bring back the bodies to their families,” diver Philip Entremont told reporters before resuming the search Saturday.

The boat, with 105 people, including 93 tourists, capsized and sank after it was hit by 5-meter (16-foot) waves.

The death toll jumped Friday after the navy sent divers to the wreck. In images shortly after the sinking, rescued people sat in large rubber life rafts surrounded by churning seas.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the leader of Thailand’s military government, expressed his “sympathies and deepest condolences” to the families of the dead. The government will “exert all efforts to find those still missing and provide support to all survivors of this tragic event,” he said in a statement.

Reports in Thai media said police charged the owner and captain of the stricken ship with carelessness causing death and injury.