Body of third victim found in capsized Thai ferry off Koh Samui

By Baird Maritime - August 7, 2020.

Passengers and crew being rescued after the ferry Raja 4 capsized off Koh Samui, Thailand on August 1, 2020. Two passengers and three crewmembers died as a result of the incident. (Photo: Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, Surat Thani)

Thai media has reported that Royal Thai Navy divers have located the body of another victim of the August 1 ferry capsizing off Koh Samui, thus raising the incident’s confirmed death toll to three.

On Thursday, August 6, a body identified as that of a 40-year-old female passenger was found inside the wreckage of the Ro-Pax ferry Raja 4, which now lies submerged some two nautical miles off Koh Samui.

A navy official said that the body of the female victim could not be recovered from the wreckage as it was already bloated due to its being in an advanced state of decomposition by the time it was found by the divers.

The search for the last two missing individuals who were on the ferry was called off on Thursday due to the worsening weather and the deteriorating underwater visibility.

The bodies of Raja 4‘s captain and one other crewmember were also found by Thai authorities in the days following the capsizing, which had been caused by strong winds and rough waves at around 22:00 local time on August 1.