Children among 34 dead as boat capsizes in Vietnam

A tourist boat ferrying families around Vietnam's Ha Long Bay capsized in a storm on Saturday afternoon, leaving at least 34 people dead, according to state media reports, as rescuers scrambled to locate the missing.

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The vessel was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members when it capsized in the Unesco World Heritage site because of sudden heavy rain, the VN Express news site said.

Most of those on board were families visiting from the capital Hanoi, with more than 20 children among the passengers, it said.

"Border guards rescued 11 people and recovered 34 bodies," it added. Rescue efforts were set to continue into the night to find the eight still missing.

Ha Long Bay office worker Tran Trong Hung told AFP the storm started in the afternoon. "The sky turned dark at around 2pm (0700 GMT)," he said. There were "hailstones as big as toes with torrential rain, thunderstorm and lightning," he said.

One of the rescued, a 10-year-old boy, told state media outlet Vietnam Net: "I took a deep breath, swam through a gap, dived, then swam up. I even shouted for help, then I was pulled up by a boat with soldiers."

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent his condolences to the families of the deceased and called on the defence and public security ministries to conduct urgent search and rescue.