At midnight on February 28, a tourist boat with passengers caught fire off the coast in Ha Long Bay.

Blazes consume boat in Ha Long Bay. (Photo: Quang Ninh newspaper)

Ha Long City police told DTiNews that, “The burning boat was identified to be a tourist boat, named Minh Quang 08. As soon as the incident occurred, Ha Long city policemen were called to the scene to collect information and report on the incident to our leaders. The burning of the boat was reportedly caused by a candle being lit in the boat’s cabin.”

The burning boat was located at a distance from other tourist boats, thus making it impossible for the boat to be rescued before burning. After about half an hour, the deck of the boat was completely gone due to the fire. The boat’s anchor rope was cut and the boat drifted to a mountain’s side before finally sinking. The boat was salvaged from the sea to be fixed on shore this morning.

It has been reported that ten tourist passengers were on board, including one staff member, but all were evacuated in time and nobody was injured.

Ha Long City police are further investigating the cause of the fire.