Vietnam Boat Sinks, 22 Dead, Scores Missing

Vietnam Boat Sinks, 22 Dead, Scores Missing

HANOI (Reuters) - A boat carrying Vietnamese school children and their teachers on a holiday outing sank off the country's south coat and 22 of them had drowned and about 70 were missing, officials said Saturday.

The boat, a fishing vessel illegally carrying passengers, developed a leak and began taking on water as it was heading to Hon Khoai island Friday. Police said initial reports suggested the boat's pump had broken down as water poured in.

Some frantic children used mobile phones to call their parents for help as the boat went down, police said.

"There is not much hope for the missing," a district official in Vietnam's southernmost province of Ca Mau told Reuters.

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