Shipwreck in Cambodia: seven bodies found

DAY

Seven bodies believed to be from the sinking of a boat carrying Chinese off the coast of Cambodia have been found floating off the island of Phu Quoc in southern Vietnam, local media said on Friday. 'State. 

Late Thursday afternoon, the seven bodies were found drifting towards Bai Truong Beach on Phu Quoc Island. “The bodies were all decomposing,” Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security said in its official gazette. 

The article states that two bodies were found with Chinese identity cards and that their state of decomposition “also corresponds to the moment when the boat sank a week ago in the Cambodian sea, not far from Phu Quoc. ”. 

The ship, which was carrying 41 Chinese, capsized on September 22 off the coast of Sihanoukville, in the south-west of the country. 

Thirty people were rescued in Cambodian and Vietnamese waters, and three people were found dead, authorities said.

Once a peaceful fishing village, Sihanoukville has been transformed in recent years by a boom in Chinese investment, marked in particular by the opening of dozens of casinos.

More and more reports indicate that Chinese people are regularly brought to the city by human traffickers to work illegally in casinos or internet fraud operations.

According to Cambodian authorities, the group of Chinese had left their country from a port from southern Guangdong province on a fast boat on September 11.

A week later, they were transshipped in international waters to another boat with two Cambodian crew members.

Their new boat began to sink after breaking down. The two Cambodians were then rescued by another boat but the other passengers were abandoned.

The two Cambodian nationals were arrested, according to the provincial spokesperson.

Contacted by AFP, police and island authorities declined to comment.