Tuesday, 12 August 2008

Aussies, Brits and Kiwi rescued from capsized Cambodian tour boat

The Earth Times

Mon, 11 Aug 2008
Author : DPA

Phnom Penh - Eight foreign tourists and five Cambodians were rescued from a tourist boat which capsized in high winds and sank near the popular tourist hub of Siem Reap, a district official said Monday. One New Zealander, three Australians and four Britons were rescued from the Vietnamese-skippered 20-metre slow boat by Cambodian vessels which came to the rescue, Tho Sambath, a district governor, said by telephone.

"They were lucky they were near the shore. Any further out and it would have been difficult to help them," he said.

The boat sank in the Tonle Sap lake near Siem Reap, about 400 kilometres north-west of the capital.

Siem Reap is home to the Angkor Wat temple complex, which is Cambodia's largest tourist attraction, and a popular way to get there from the capital is by boat, despite often rudimentary safety precautions.

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