Fifteen Indian tourists are dead after a speedboat flipped in rough seas a quarter mile off Vietnam's coast—and the American press dropped everything to wire it to your front page while your own country's crises go uncovered.
The facts of the accident are straightforward. A speedboat carrying 32 Indian tourists and four Vietnamese crew overturned Saturday afternoon shortly after departing Hon May Rut Ngoai island near Phu Quoc, Vietnamese authorities said. The captain, 57-year-old Nguyen Hong Hai, has been detained and is under investigation for alleged violations of waterway transport safety regulations, according to state media. Sixteen survivors have been discharged from the hospital and are returning to India; one remains in critical condition.
All 15 victims were employees, distributors, and retail partners of Lava International, an Indian smartphone manufacturer, on a company-organized trip. Eyewitness Ashish Kumar, a 48-year-old distributor, watched from shore as the first of three boats departed and immediately capsized.
