☭ marselip0910 叶俊华™

　　越南旅遊熱門景點─下龍灣17日發生觀光船沉沒，造成12名旅客罹難事件後，越南旅遊相關部門18日誓言，將竭力保障旅客乘船的安全。

　　下龍灣所在地廣寧省(Quang Ninh)主管旅遊事務的阮清雄(Nguyen Thanh Hung，音譯)中校說，將對廣寧和下龍灣的所有觀光船進行全面體檢，以確保旅客的旅遊安全。他接著表示，目前正打算停止夜間海上航行，以免再發生類似意外。

　　發生沉船意外的這艘下龍灣觀光船，當時船上載有20名遊客，事後經越南河內官員證實，共有12名遊客死亡，其中10人為外國籍；另外2名罹難者中，1人為越南籍遊客、1人為越南翻譯。

　　遇害的10名外國遊客分別來自美國、瑞典、俄羅斯、英國、日本、法國及瑞典，根據了解，事件發生在一座無人島附近，越南官員指出，沉船原因並非天候因素，而是因為船體有一部分突然破裂所導致。

　　下龍灣有「海上桂林」之稱，並被聯合國教科文組列入世界遺產，是越南最知名的旅遊景點。根據統計，去年前10個月，下龍灣就有約20萬艘觀光船，搭載旅客在海上航行。

11 foreign tourists and a Vietnamese guide have drowned after their traditional wooden tour boat sank in Halong Bay in north-east Vietnam, just before dawn on Thursday. Rest in peace.

Halong Bay, a World Heritage Site renowned for its hundreds of tiny islands and swamp forests, is one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist spots. The Thursday mishap was Vietnam’s deadliest tour boat accident since opening up to foreign visitors some 25 years ago.

Most of the travellers were sleeping in the cabins when the water came in and the boat sank quickly. Fifteen people, including nine foreigners, were able to jump into waters and rescued by other tour boats anchored close by. More on BBC.

It is not yet clear why the boat sank. The news send chills down my spine, reminded me of my overnight boat trip at the bay not too distant time ago. An enjoyable trip could turn into tragedy in split seconds without warning.