World News

Thailand warship capsizes leaving 31 sailors missing

The Thai navy says 31 sailors are missing after a warship carrying more than 100 crew capsized and sank during a storm in the Gulf of Thailand.

The HTMS Sukhothai sank after water flooded its power controls on Sunday night. Images shared by the navy showed some crew who survived in a life raft.

On Monday, authorities said they had rescued 75 sailors, but 31 were still missing in rough seas.

“We will keep looking,” a navy spokesman told the BBC.

Search crews worked through the night to find survivors, with the operation continuing on Monday with air force assistance.

The navy also announced an investigation into the cause of the disaster.

“This has almost never happened in our force’s history, especially to a ship that is still in active use,” spokesman Admiral Pogkrong Monthardpalin told the BBC.

Footage shared by the navy on Twitter showed crew members wrapped in blankets and receiving treatment after they had been rescued. Some were being airlifted to hospital.

Other images showed sailors from the Sukhothai in a life raft, having jumped from the sinking vessel.

One unnamed crew member said he had been in the water for several hours before he was rescued.

“The waves were quite high, about three metres when the ship sank,” he said in a clip shared on local media. “I put on the life jacket and jumped. I swam for three hours.”

Crew members from the capsized HTMS Sukhothai warship receive medical treatment in the Gulf of Thailand, December 18, 2022. Royal Thai Navy/Handout via REUTERS

Officials said the ship went down after it took on water, which flooded its hull and shortcircuited its power room.

With the power lost, the crew battled to retain control of the ship which listed on to its side before sinking around 23:30 local time Sunday (16:30 GMT).

The ship had been on a patrol 32km (20 miles) east of Bang Saphan, in the Prachuap Khiri Khan province, when it got caught in the storm on Sunday.

Dramatic pictures posted on the Thai Navy’s Twitter account show the vessel listing onto its side, and back-up rescue ships trying to find survivors in choppy waters.

Three naval ships and helicopters were sent to assist, but only the HTMS Kraburi reached the vessel before it sank.

The frigate picked up most of the Sukhothai’s crew, the navy said. Sailors wearing life jackets were found in the water and in life rafts. The navy has disclosed scant detail on their condition. Local media published pictures showing medical personnel at the dock taking crew members off in stretchers.

Prime Minister Prayut Chano-Cha released a statement on Monday confirming officials were investigating the disaster.

“I am following the news closely - about five people are seriously injured,” he said.

The HTMS Sukhothai was built for the Thai navy in the US in the mid-1980s.

Crew members who were rescued received medical treatment

China has been experiencing a surge in Covid cases since many restrictions were eased earlier this month

China Covid: Health expert predicts three winter waves

Atop Chinese health official says he believes China is experiencing the first of three expected waves of Covid infections this winter.

The country is seeing a surge in cases since the lifting of its most severe restrictions earlier this month.

The latest official figures appear to show a relatively low number of new daily cases.

However, there are concerns that these numbers are an underestimate due to a recent reduction in Covid testing.

The government reported only 2,097 new daily cases on Sunday.

Epidemiologist Wu Zunyou has said he believes the current spike in infections would run until mid-January, while the second wave would then be triggered by mass travel in January around the week-long Lunar New Year celebrations which begin on 21 January. Millions of people usually travel at this time to spend the holiday with family.

The third surge in cases would run from late February to midMarch as people return to work after the holiday, Dr Wu said.

He told a conference on Saturday that current vaccinations levels offered a certain level of protection against the surges and had resulted in a drop in the number of severe cases.

Overall, China says more than 90% of its population has been fully vaccinated. However, less than half of people aged 80 and over have received three doses of vaccine. Elderly people are more likely to suffer severe Covid symptoms.

China has developed and produced its own vaccines, which have been shown to be less effective at protecting people against serious Covid illness and death than the mRNA vaccines used in much of the rest of the world.

Dr Wu’s comments come after a reputable US-based research institute reported earlier this week that it believed China could see over a million people die from Covid in 2023 following an explosion of cases.

The government hasn’t officially reported any Covid deaths since 7 December, when restrictions were lifted following mass protests against its zeroCovid policy. That included an end to mass testing.

However, there are anecdotal reports of deaths linked to Covid appearing in Beijing.

Hospitals there and in other cities are struggling to cope with a surge, which has also hit postal and catering services hard.

Meanwhile, China’s largest city, Shanghai, has ordered most of its schools to take classes online as cases soar.

Fifa World Cup: India couple marry in France, Argentina football shirts

Football fans in the southern Indian state of Kerala have always distinguished themselves for their love for football in a cricket-crazy country.

Sunday was no different as the state geared up to watch the final between Argentina and France.

Makeshift screens were set up across the state as Argentinian and French flags fluttered in the streets as fans gathered in their thousands to watch the match.

But a couple stood out in their devotion for the beautiful game. Sachin R and R Athira’s wedding date coincided with the final on Sunday. While they agreed on most things about their wedding, they didn’t want to compromise on which team they supported in the final.

Sachin is an ardent fan of Argentina star Lionel Messi, while Athira is a passionate supporter of the French football team.

Hours before the two teams met in Qatar’s Lusail Stadium in one of the most spectacular matches in World Cup history, they married each other in a ceremony held in Kochi city.

Over their jewellery and traditional wedding attire, the couple wore number 10 jerseys - Athira donned one for French forward Kylian Mbappe while Sachin wore Argentina’s colours for Messi.

Newspaper Malayala Manorama reports that following their wedding ceremony, the couple raced through their reception and the wedding feast to make it back to Sachin’s house in Thiruvananthapuram 206km (128 miles) away in time to watch what turned out to be a sensational final.

Argentina won the final in a penalty shootout 4-2, giving 35-year-old maestro Messi a chance to finally lift the World Cup trophy.

Kerala, where Messi has a huge fan following, has been celebrating the victory since Sunday night as fans waved Argentina flags and set off fireworks across the state.

In Thrissur, a hotel owner kept his promise to serve free biryani if Argentina won.

The state’s devotion for the game even caught the eye of FIFA last month when it tweeted about fans setting up giant carboard statues of

The two rushed back home after their wedding to watch the World Cup final