A tour boat sank in Vietnam's scenic Halong Bay early today, killing 12 people, including foreign tourists, a government official said.
"The rescue team has rescued 15 people, including nine foreign tourists and six crew, and pulled out 12 bodies," Ngo Van Hung, director of the Halong Bay management department said.
Mr Hung said there were 20 foreign tourists, six crew members and one tour guide aboard when the boat went down. The tourists were from Australia, France, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, the UK and the US.
He said the weather had been fine and the cause of the sinking remained unclear.
Halong Bay, about 200km northeast of Hanoi, is one of Vietnam's top tourist attractions, drawing tens of thousands of domestic and overseas visitors each year, many of whom take overnight boat tours.
Reuters