Cries for help and panic as tourists are rescued from deadly shipwreck

It was supposed to be a Thursday like any other in Laos, where Antonin’s father was born.

Instead, the 30-year-old French citizen found himself among more than 140 people, mostly tourists, on a ferry that capsized in the Mekong. All but three are believed to have made it to safety.

Online videos show a scene of chaos: people screaming for help, children crying and passengers rushing to collect their belongings.

Anthonin, who refused to give his full name, recalls seeing a mother and her two children on board the ferry – but they were nowhere to be seen on the rescue boat.

On Monday, Lao media reported that the body of a woman, named Pany Her, had been recovered from the river. Rescuers later found the body of a 1-year-old child, who they believed was one of her children. Efforts to find a second child continue.

The boat was heading last Thursday from the riverside town of Huay Xay to the historic town of Luang Prabang in northern Laos, a common route along the Mekong River – and popular with visitors to the country.

There was 118 tourists and 29 locals, including four crew members, on board the boat when it hit underwater rocks, according to an official report published by the Laotian Times.

Within minutes, the ferry began to sink.

“THE [crew] were just not at all prepared for this. There was a lot of confusion… it happened really quickly”, Anthonin said.

“What was, you know, confusing and alarming was that there were very few life jackets, about 15 life jackets maximum… [it] It was really bad.”

As the boat continued to capsize, passengers shouted for help to a passing boat, but it did not stop – perhaps because, he said, it was relatively small.

The second, however, stopped and greeted them. However, according to British tourist Bradley Cook, another passenger on board, this briefly “made the situation worse”.

The 27-year-old told the BBC that as the rescue boat got closer to their ferry, people began to move around and put weight on one side of the ferry, which allowed the water to fill the hull even faster.

Mr Cook went to the other side to climb onto the roof, from where he jumped onto the rescue ferry.

Some people managed to climb to the ferry, while others swam, held on to the rails and were pulled by others. Both Anthonin and Mr. Cook were among those rescued.

But others were less lucky.

Anthony said he was helping other passengers collect their luggage from the back of the sinking ferry when he saw a Laotian mother and her two children.

However, while on the rescue ferry, he realized that they were not there.

“Some people were crying, panicking. It was a disaster,” he said. “[But] I wasn’t afraid for my life… I was more touched by the three missing people.”

Laotian media later reported that the bodies of Laotian Pany Her and a one-year-old child were found separately near Luang Prabang.

Another passenger, Gabrielius Baranovičius, 19, told the BBC that he and his friend, both from Lithuania, did not panic at first.

“We were joking,” Mr. Baranovičius said, adding that his attitude quickly changed when he realized they were sinking.

After boarding the rescue boat, Mr Baranovičius said he started filming what was happening on board “but then I heard other people screaming [I] I turned off the camera and went straight to help other people in the water onto the boat.

Tens of thousands of tourists use slow and fast boat services along the 300km route linking Huay Xay, Pak Beng and Luang Prabang each year, according to the Mekong River Commission.

For Mr Cook, the experience was “terrifying” and made him want to leave Luang Prabang, “even though everyone is really friendly here”, because it was a constant reminder of his narrow escape.

Speaking to the BBC from Vang Vieng, a town in northern Laos, Mr Cook said he planned to file an insurance claim for his broken electrical appliances and for lost money, although he did not know who would be held responsible.

“I guess it’s just a freak accident,” he said, while adding that he “wasn’t sure how preventable the capsizing of the ferry was.”

This is not the first time that such a shipwreck has occurred in Laos.

In September 2023, a passenger boat, which was traveling on the same river corridor between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang, capsized in the Mekong in Pakbeng district, killing three people.

The boat reportedly became entangled in a fishing net, causing the boat to lose control and overturn in strong currents.