Four bodies found in sunken dive boat
PHUKET: The Phuket branch of the Department of Disaster Prevention & Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket) confirmed this afternoon that the bodies of four more victims from the dive boat Choke Somboon 19 have been discovered inside the sunken vessel.
Deep sea divers have been working with Marine Police since first light this morning to reach the sunken vessel, which lies 70 meters below the surface, to confirm that it is in fact the same vessel that capsized during a freak storm on Sunday night.
The Choke Somboon 19 was carrying 30 people, 23 of whom were rescued on Monday, leaving seven people missing.
The Gazette was told that the four victims were discovered at 3.30pm in two separate sleeping quarters – two bodies in each cabin – and have been identified by Marine Police as Swiss nationals Mr Klaus Konradder and Ms Monika Schuster, and Austrian nationals Ms Sibylle Bucher and Mr Rolf Niederberge.
The body of Austrian national Gabrielle Jetzinger was found yesterday, floating in the area where the vessel sank, leaving Thai national Mr Jumpa “Gen” Sorntat – the boat’s cook – and Japanese national Mr Yuba Hirotsuga still unaccounted for.
