Thai navy searches for eight missing after warship sinking

Bangkok, Dec 27 (EFE).- The Thai navy was searching for eight sailors still missing Tuesday after last week’s sinking of the HTMS Sukhothai, which left at least 21 dead.

The navy reported on its social media accounts on Tuesday that three bodies are in the process of being identified, without providing further details. Another 18 bodies have already been identified.

With these three deaths, and in the absence of confirmed identities, the navy lifted the death toll to 21 while it continues searching for eight people missing from the 105 who were on the warship at the time of the accident.

The search tasks involve three navy vessels and drones to search the waters of the Gulf of Thailand.

The navy also said that divers are working on the ship, which rests about 50 meters deep, to investigate the vessel and look for the missing.

The corvette sank in stormy seas on the night of Dec. 18 about 37 kilometers off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, southwest of Bangkok.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the ship did not have enough life jackets for all onboard, while questions have arisen about the ship’s seaworthiness.

These factors led the opposition to announce that it will submit an urgent motion for a debate on the incident in parliament and call for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha from his defense minister post. EFE

nc/tw