Thailand: Speedboat collision near Phuket kills one, injures dozens

A high-speed boat carrying Russian and Central Asian tourists collided with a fishing vessel near Koh Khai Island, close to Phuket, leaving one person dead and dozens injured.

According to preliminary reports, the speedboat, Korawich Marine 888, struck the fishing trawler Pichai Samut 1 on January 11, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media. 

The impact destroyed the front of the speedboat, causing it to sink and sending 52 tourists and three crew members into the water.

The Russian Consul General in Thailand, Egor Ivanov, confirmed that the boat was carrying 33 Russian citizens, alongside tourists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and other countries.

A Russian girl, born in 2008, died from her injuries, while 23 Russians with varying degrees of injuries were hospitalised across Phuket.

By Aghakazim Guliyev