A collision between two tour boats in Phuket, Thailand, has left two people dead and 22 others with varying degrees of injury.
The incident occurred at approximately 07:50 local time on Monday, February 10, at the Royal Phuket Marina in the waters east of the popular Thai resort island.
According to local police officials, one of the vessels was manoeuvring to berth at the marina in order to pick up passengers when it was struck head-on by the second vessel, which was outbound from nearby Phuket Boat Lagoon at the time.
Several passengers on the outbound boat were thrown into the water as their vessel's bow ploughed into that of the inbound vessel, leaving the latter's forward quarter severely damaged.
A total of 39 people, most of whom were Russian tourists, were on the two vessels when the collision occurred.
A 12-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, both Russian nationals, were pulled unconscious from the second vessel. Tragically, the two victims could not be revived even after CPR was administered to them on-site by responding rescue teams.
Twenty-two passengers sustained non-life-threatening injuries from the collision and were brought to various hospitals in Phuket. Fifteen other people, including the four crewmen on the two vessels, escaped the incident unharmed.
An investigation has been launched by regional and local police officials to determine the events that led to the collision.