Terrifying moment tourists forced to jump from burning ship
The ship, Aphrodite was carrying 37 tourists when it caught
fire in Ha Long Bay last Friday.
A video of tourists jumping off a burning ship docked on shore in Vietnam was posted to Facebook earlier today.
The cruise ship called Aphrodite was carrying 37 tourists when it caught fire.
The passengers aboard the three story ship were forced to make their escape by jumping overboard.
Those who jumped off the boat were rescued from the water and pulled into other boats in the harbour.
Aphrodite cruises released a statement that reads:
There are four people suffer minor injuries including one crew member.
More than 40 people on board with 37 foreign tourists who come from Taiwan, France, Switzerland, UK, New Zealand, Korea, and India. 33 passengers were taken back to Hanoi safely.
Regarding the cause of the incident, Colonel Vu Van Duong (deputy director of fire protection police in Quang Ninh) said that (usually, incident is related to electrical or gas used in the kitchen. It could be due to careless visitor and staff who smoke and ignore fire prevention.
Mr Duong said that the wooden ship with many flammable substances, is not equipped with automatic fire-fighting system, so when the fire starts it become very difficult to control. The crew members on board were recognized as qualified in fire-fighting operations.
"The particular cause is under investigation. We will provide the information as soon as possible" said Mr.Duong.
Watch the terrifying video here: