Fears are rising for a British lady nonetheless lacking three days after a scuba diving boat sank off the coast of Thailand.
Millie Younger, a 57-year-old artist from Brighton, was reportedly amongst 18 passengers aboard the Reggae Queen tour boat when it sank in stormy waters close to the island of Ko Torinla, within the Andaman Sea, on Saturday morning.
Whereas 16 of the passengers have been rescued, Ms Younger and a feminine Thai crew member are but to be discovered, amid an intensive search involving the Royal Thai Navy.
Officers imagine the pair might have been swept as much as 70 miles away from the boat by sturdy currents. A International Workplace spokesperson stated: “We’re supporting the household of a British lady and are involved with the native authorities after an incident in Thailand.”
Ko Torinla is among the Surin Islands, an archipelago some 35 miles from the mainland and regarded one of many world’s greatest snorkelling and diving spots.
The search was persevering with on Boxing Day, having concerned the coastguard, helicopters and inflatable boats, in an operation made tougher by stormy circumstances, in keeping with native media.
On Tuesday, Rear Admiral Pongmit Narongkul was reported as saying that an inflatable life raft had been discovered 20 nautical miles from the place the ship sank, nevertheless it was empty.
“The flight path search space has been expanded to the western space of the Surin Islands, with a radius of 15 nautical miles from the forecast level. The lacking individuals haven’t been discovered however the search is constant,” he stated.
“Cargo and fishing vessels are serving to with the search,” he added.
Officers are contemplating utilizing sonar able to scouring the ocean flooring to seek for the Reggae Queen.
Ms Younger seems to have been residing in Thailand since 2007, in keeping with her social media, on which mates stated they have been “wishing for a miracle of Christmas” whereas awaiting information.