As of the afternoon of April 25, search forces discovered 4 bodies in the sinking of a barge tugboat in the waters of Ly Son, Quang Ngai province.
After determining their identities, the authorities discovered that all four victims were not on the list of crew members who declared before leaving port.
Accordingly, 3 victims were determined to be from Long An province, the remaining person was from Tu Nghia district, Quang Ngai province.
The crew members took pictures before leaving the port as in the registration list, but the identification of the bodies was completely different (Photo: Tran Duc).
Immediately after the accident, Mr. Le Van Trung (Long An province) went to Quang Ngai to identify relatives.
When the authorities of Quang Ngai province provided pictures of the victims whose bodies had been found, Mr. Trung recognized three people.
“Among the first three bodies found was my brother-in-law Vo Van Song, the rest were Dang Van Nhung and Dang Van Uoc. These two people are both in Long An,” Mr. Trung said.
At noon on April 25, the fourth body was also identified. This person is Mr. Tran Minh Phuc (Tu Nghia district, Quang Ngai province). Mr. Phuc was hired to operate the excavator.
Meanwhile, the list of crew members reported to the authorities by the chartering unit before the ship sailed includes 5 people, including Mr. Vo Tan Khuong, Vo Van Nhieu and Bui Minh Tri (Quang Ngai province); Pham Van Hiep, Dang Minh Phuong (Long An province).
Thus, the 4 people determined to have died in the sinking of the barge and tugboat were not on the crew list at departure.
A representative of Minh Linh Company Limited, owner of the tugboat and barge, said it only hired Mr. Pham Van Hiep as captain. This unit does not know how many more people Mr. Hiep called to work on the ship.
Talk to reporters Dan TriMr. Le Van Luong, Director of Quang Ngai Maritime Port Authority, said that the authorities are actively implementing search and rescue work.
Mr. Luong also confirmed that all 4 bodies found were not on the list of crew members declared when disembarking at Ky Ha port, Quang Nam province. Therefore, the search force predicts that there may be up to 9 people on the crashed tugboat.
The barge in distress was towed back to shore to serve the investigation (Photo: Quoc Trieu).
Previously, at about 4:00 a.m. on April 24, tugboat LA-06695 towed barge LA-06883 belonging to Minh Linh Company Limited, on a journey from Ky Ha (Quang Nam province) to Ly Son (Quang Ngai province). The ship is responsible for carrying stone to construct the breakwater of Ben Dinh port (Ly Son district). According to departure records, there were 5 crew members on the tugboat.
When the tugboat brought the barge to the sea area about 3 nautical miles from Ly Son island, an incident occurred. The barge LA-06883 capsized, causing the tugboat LA-06695 to sink and the people on the tugboat lost contact.
Receiving information, Quang Ngai province mobilized many forces to participate in search and rescue. To date, the bodies of four crew members in distress have been found.
