Officials from Quang Ninh province returned bodies of eight foreign tourists killed on the tour boat accident in Ha Long bay to their relatives on February 19.

The Truong Hai tour boat sank off the Ti Tov island on February 17, killing 12 tourists aboard, mostly foreigners.

The Director of the Provincial Diplomatic Corps Service, Nguyen Van Chieu, sent deepest sympathy to families of the deceased.

He said Quang Ninh province has instantly embarked on overcoming the accident consequences. The province worked hard with the Foreign Ministry and embassies of the victims in finalising procedures for victims’ relatives to bring their loved ones home as soon as possible as well as for survived tourists to return home soon at their requirement.

He pledged to speed up investigations on the accident and inform embassies and families of the deceased of the result immediately after the cause is made clear.

The Truong Hai 06 tour boat has been towed to Hon Nap island, some 400 metres from the accident site, for preliminary examination.

The boat will be brought ashore for further investigation on the cause and those who are responsible will be punished in line with law, officials emphasised./.