15 Indian Tourists Killed as Speedboat Capsizes Off Phu Quoc, Vietnam

Boat Overturns in Rough Seas Near Phu Quoc

A speedboat carrying Indian tourists capsized Saturday near Hon May Rut Ngoai, a small island in Vietnam's An Thoi Archipelago in the Gulf of Thailand, according to BBC News, which cited Vietnamese regional authorities and the outlet VnExpress.

Thirty two Indian nationals and four crew members were on board when the vessel overturned about 400 meters, roughly 1,312 feet, from the island in heavy winds and high waves, per VnExpress. Fifteen people died. Twenty one were rescued.

Hon May Rut Ngoai sits about 10 kilometers, or six miles, south of Phu Quoc, Vietnam's largest island and a major draw for island-hopping boat tours.

What Local Officials Said

Nguyen Tien Hai, a senior Communist Party official in the area, said authorities were still confirming the exact death toll and survivor count as rescue efforts continued Saturday, according to VnExpress.

Hai said the boat likely capsized because of heavy winds and high waves. "The top priority is rescue, bringing all victims ashore and focusing all efforts on providing emergency care to those who are still alive," he said, per VnExpress.

Several other tourist vessels in the area responded quickly once the boat went down, and rescuers found many passengers trapped inside the hull, VnExpress reported.

India's Response

Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X that he was "extremely saddened to learn about the tragic news of a boat accident involving Indian nationals" in Vietnam. "My sincere condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. My prayers for the early recovery of the injured survivors," he wrote.

The Indian embassy in Vietnam called the incident "tragic" and published the full list of the 32 Indian nationals who were aboard the boat, a step that lets families confirm the status of relatives directly rather than waiting on secondhand reports. The embassy also set up telephone hotlines to provide information and assistance to affected families.

What's Unproven So Far

Hai's statement that rough weather caused the capsizing is the only explanation offered by authorities so far, and it has not been independently verified through a formal investigation. Vietnamese officials have not said whether the boat was overloaded, whether it met safety certification standards, or whether weather warnings were issued before it departed.

BBC News noted a separate, earlier tragedy in which a tourist boat capsized in Ha Long Bay, killing dozens. Two mass-casualty boat disasters involving tourists in a matter of years raises questions about whether Vietnam's tourist-vessel inspection and weather-advisory systems are keeping pace with the volume of foreign visitors flooding sites like Phu Quoc and Ha Long Bay.

It remains unclear why a 32-person tour group was allowed on the water if wind and wave conditions were bad enough to flip a boat within 400 meters of shore. Rough seas don't materialize instantly. Whether local operators had advance warning and ignored it, or whether conditions changed suddenly, is unclear and would be a central question for Vietnamese maritime regulators going forward.

What Happens Next

Vietnamese authorities have not announced a formal investigation, and no findings on vessel safety compliance or advance weather alerts have been released as of Saturday. The death toll of 15 and survivor count of 21 could still shift as rescue operations continue and full identification of victims proceeds.

The Indian embassy's hotlines remain the primary channel for families seeking updates. Modi's government has not yet indicated whether it will press Vietnamese officials for a full account of what caused the capsizing, or whether India plans any consular follow-up beyond the immediate condolence statement.