Scandinavians among those rescued from sinking boat off Phuket

A Swedish resident of Phuket rescued all of the several diving students, including Scandinavians, to safety when their boat capsized off Phuket on 29 January 2014.rescue

Dennis Karlsson, 46, told Sweden’s Aftonbladet that his boat, Peter Pan, just happened to be nearby when the ill-fated boat, Aladdin, started taking in water and sent out distress signals.

Karlsson said he rushed to help just as Aladdin was sinking to the bottom of the sea 25 metres below the surface.

Video footages show how terrified passengers of the sinking boat were forced to throw themselves into the waters to save their lives.

“It went down incredibly fast, followed by a frantic rescue,” said Karlsson.

The dive boat Aladdin was filled with tourists when the accident occurred.

“It was just a coincidence that our boat was there and could come to the rescue,” he said.

In just a few minutes Aladdin sank to the bottom.

“People threw themselves headlong into the water. Some disappeared under the surface with the boat before they were pulled under. It was really lucky that everyone survived, said Karlsson.

The cause of the boat accident was still not clear.

Dennis Karlsson, who works as a diving instructor six months a year in Thailand, did not give precise nationalities of the tourists on board the Aladdin but confirms that several were Nordic.

Source: Aftonbladet

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