Hotels provide free rooms, meals to families of Ha Long Bay capsized boat victims

The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon, when the Vinh Xanh 58 tourist boat, carrying 49 passengers, was overturned by a sudden thunderstorm.

Dang Van Toan, co-founder of T&Y Group, said he began arranging accommodation for victims’ families shortly after news of the accident broke.

After he posted a call for support on Facebook, many other hotels in Ha Long proactively reached out to join the effort.

One of them, Passion Hotel, announced it would offer free accommodation to the families of the victims starting from Saturday night. The hotel also provided complimentary shuttle buses from Hanoi to Ha Long for those in need.

According to the Quang Ninh Province Tourism Promotion Center, 22 hotels in the area had registered to provide free rooms to relatives of the victims. Many of them cleared all rooms, mobilized staff and volunteers to operate around the clock, and served free meals.

Toan’s facilities including The One Palace, Green Suites Hotel, and Green Restaurant are located in the Bai Chay tourist area, about 2 km from Bai Chay Hospital and 1.5 km from the port where the capsized boat was docked, offering convenient access for affected families.

"We received families traveling from Lao Cai, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Bac Giang, and Bac Ninh. A group arrived at 3 a.m.," Toan recalled.

From Sunday noon, Toan’s hotel began preparing more rooms as guests checked out. His restaurant has been cooking for both victims’ families and injured survivors being treated at Bai Chay Hospital, with an estimated 240 meals served daily across breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

"I was devastated when I heard the news," Toan said. "My family operates a chain of hotels and restaurants, and we want to stand with the victims and their families to help ease their burden during this heartbreaking time."