Five Vietnamese confirmed dead in freight boat accident near Chinese border

Five Vietnamese workers have died and another four are missing following a river freight boat accident on Sunday in Lao Cai Province near the border with China.

Chief of the provincial Border Defense Force Colonel Nguyen Trong Ngu said that three boats were returning from the Chinese side of the Red River having successfully delivered their goods when one of them suffered engine failure.

The nine workers on board were unable to fix the engine, so decided to swim to shore. Due to their lack of experience and skills, none of them made it back, Vietnam News Agency reported.

“After learning about the incident, we coordinated with our Chinese counterparts to launch a search and rescue operation,” the colonel said.

Five bodies were found late on Monday, but the other four were still missing as of Tuesday.

The search is ongoing.