KRABI: Sixteen people were injured when a speedboat carrying 26 Chinese tourists exploded off Phi Phi island on Sunday.
The speedboat, King Poseidon 959, picked up 26 Chinese tourists - including three children - from the Rassada pier in Phuket province on Sunday morning for a trip to the Phi Phi islands. Five Thai people - the captain and four attendants - were also on board.
As the boat was passing the Viking cave on Phi Phi Le in Muang district, a fuel leak was noticed. The driver asked an attendant to take over the steering and went to check the boat's engines.
As he was opening the cover of one of the three engines, there was an explosion, and fire rapidly engulfed the vessel. According to media reports, sixteen people were injured. Five of them, including the driver, suffered severe burns. The incident happened at about noon.
A local disaster mitigation official said officials might take about a week to retrieve the damaged boat and determine the cause of the explosion. The injured were sent to hospitals in Krabi and Phuket.
