Halong Bay shipwreck: death toll rises to 38, five people still wanted

The Wonder Sea, carrying 48 passengers, including more than 20 children, and five crew members, capsized due to sudden, heavy rains on Saturday afternoon while visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

During the night, the bodies of three crew members were found by the coast guard in the boat's cabin, while one of the 11 people rescued on Saturday died in hospital on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 38, the news outlet VNExpress reported. According to the news site, the boat was mainly carrying families visiting from the capital Hanoi.

At the main funeral home in Ha Long city, AFP journalists saw bodies wrapped in red cloth being carried on stretchers, while relatives wept over a dozen coffins.

A 68-year-old man said he rushed to the scene at 3 a.m. to find his relatives, a family of four, including two boys, had died in the sinking. "We were all shocked," he said, crying. "It was a very sudden accident. They were just taking the children to the bay for the summer holidays and it ended horribly."

Authorities will "investigate and clarify the cause of the incident and deal rigorously" with the accident, a statement on the government website said.