31 sailors missing, rescue search underway after warship capsizes in Thailand
A rescue operation is underway after the Thai navy reported nearly three dozen sailors went missing when one of its warships capsized in Thailand waters on Sunday night.
The warship, which carried more than 100 crew members, capsized and sank after water flooded its power controls Sunday during a storm in the Gulf of Thailand.
As of Monday, 75 sailors from the HTMS Sukhothai corvette had been rescued and 31 were still missing, the navy said. The high waves that caused the accident had lessened since Sunday night's sinking, but were still high enough to endanger small boats, the navy said.
Footage shared by the navy on Twitter showed crew members wrapped in blankets and receiving treatment after they had been rescued. Some were being airlifted to hospital.
Other images showed sailors from the warship in a life raft, having jumped from the sinking vessel.
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A rescued crew member interviewed by Thai PBS television said he had to float in the sea for three hours before he was rescued. He said the ship was buffeted by waves 10 feet high as it was sinking Sunday night, complicating rescue efforts.
“The waves are still high and we cannot search for them from the horizontal line. We have to fly the helicopters and search for them from a bird’s eye view instead,” navy spokesman Pokkrong Monthatphalin told Thai PBS.
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The Thai navy could not immediately be reached by Paste BN.
"This has almost never happened in our force's history, especially to a ship that is still in active use," the spokesperson told the BBC.
The cause of the capsize remained under investigation Monday.
Contributing: Associated Press
Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for Paste BN. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.