Canoe capsized at Cua Dai beach: Captain's drug test

According to the captain, this was indeed an accident.

At 0:30 on February 27, the functional forces found two bodies in the canoe sinking on Cua Dai sea, bringing the total number of victims to 15. At noon on February 27, Colonel Nguyen Ha Lai - Deputy Director of the Company Quang Nam provincial police said that at present, the functional forces are still actively searching for the two missing victims.

"Following the direction of the Director of the Provincial Public Security and based on the assigned functions and tasks, we are coordinating with the functional forces of the Criminal Police Department and the Criminal Technical Department of the Ministry of Public Security. verifying, investigating and clarifying the cause of the accident," said Colonel Lai.

According to Colonel Lai, regarding the current investigation requirements, it is necessary to collect documents to clarify the causes and conditions of the accident, as well as the organization of passenger transport and travel from Cua Dai. Go to Cu Lao Cham island to see if there are any mistakes in the implementation process. On that basis, recommendations and solutions will be proposed.

At the same time, clarify the objective and subjective causes leading to this accident for handling in accordance with the law. According to Colonel Lai, the functional forces are currently working with the driver Le Sen to serve the investigation. At the same time, test whether the driver is positive for drugs or not.

"Yesterday, when the incident happened, Mr. Sen panicked. At one point, this person fainted so he couldn't take his testimony. We couldn't work until this morning, and at the same time took him to test to see if this person was positive. with drugs or not," said Colonel Lai.

Mr. Le Sen (52 years old) - captain of the canoe Phuong Dong 05, said that the boat capsized at Cua Dai, killing 15 people, and 2 people were missing due to the waves hitting for about 10 seconds. On the morning of February 27, Mr. Sen got up at 5am, did not need to eat or drink anything, but walked 500m from his house in Phuoc Trach residential area, Cua Dai ward, Hoi An city, to the sand dunes where Phuong Dong 05 canoe drifted in.

He walked along the beach to hear more news about the search for victims. By this morning, two more bodies were found, including a woman and a child, two of whom are still missing. "I just hope the functional forces find the remaining two victims soon so that people will be less heartbroken," he said.

Waiting for the sea to cool down, Mr. Sen and some people waded into the sea and went to the place where the canoe was wrecked to search. After flipping upside down, the waves overturned the canoe onto the sand dunes, protruding the broken nose.

At 10 o'clock, Mr. Sen returned to the shore, carrying a wet walkie-talkie. Many people said "it's broken", but he insisted on taking it home, hoping to be able to fix it to continue following the sea. The marine profession has been associated with him since he was 10 years old.

Working as a canoe driver carrying tourists to Cu Lao Cham island for 5 years, earning about 6 million a month, Mr. Sen is fluent in the creeks in and out of Cua Dai wharf. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, he has been unemployed for nearly a year now. After the Lunar New Year, tourists returned, he was called by the train owner to go to work, running once a day.

In the early afternoon of February 26, he picked up passengers and carried them back to the shore. All wear life jackets because this is a mandatory condition, strictly monitored by border guards. When leaving the island, the canoe ran 40-45 km/h, nearing the shore he dropped to about 30 km/h.

In Cua Dai beach, there is a sand dune that has just been accreted about 5 years ago, so there are often waves. "Detecting the approaching wave, I lowered the gas station to wait for the wave to pass smoothly. But the wave hit the side, causing the canoe to overturn. Everything happened so fast, only about 10 seconds," Mr. Sen recalled.

The captain said the canoe overturned, he panicked, did not have time to call out to tourists. After a while, he regained his composure and swam to save people. Many tourist canoes and canoes of Cua Dai border guard arrived, saving 22 lives.

"I pulled four or four people out of the canoe, then fainted and was rescued by another canoe," added Mr. Sen. Captain Sen affirmed that he had never encountered a situation like yesterday. Canoes do not run aground, do not collide. Waves at that time were also not big. "I'm no stranger to the creek in Cua Dai. This is really an accident," he said.

After many years of participating in rescue operations on most of the central waters, Mr. Ho Xuan Phong, Head of the Rescue Coordination Department (Maritime Search and Rescue Center Region 2), said that the sudden wave situation caused the ship to capsize such as: Captain Sen's narrative is possible.

Currently, functional forces have mobilized many forces to search in the air, on the water surface and on the seabed with the determination to find the two missing victims as quickly as possible. Two children still missing are Nguyen Minh Quang and Nguyen Mai Anh (3 years old, both in Hanoi).

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