Estonian tourists injured in collision of speedboat, luxury yacht near Phuket

  • 2019-12-20
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - A speedboat crashed into a luxury yacht near near Phuket, Thailand, on Wednesday with Estonian tourists also on board.

The accident took place near Koh Khai Nok, off Phangnga, at around 4 p.m., killing the captain of the speedboat and injuring altogether 12 tourists, local media reported. 

One of the crew of the speedboat fell into the water and is still missing.

There were altogether 45 tourists and four crew members on board the speedboat. According to Bangkok Post, the injured tourists are from Russia, Pakistan, Estonia, Iran, England and Egypt and are being treated at Thalang Hospital in Phuket. 

The yacht captain was 47-year-old Russian national Alexander Gorbunov. Nobody on the yacht was injured.

The Bangkok Post reported that the captain of the speedboat had been previously charge with recklessness causing death as he had been involved in earlier fatal crash at sea when his speedboat collided with a fishing trawler off Krabi in 2014, causing two South Korean tourists to fall into the sea and drown.