PHUKET, Thailand (12 Mar 2009) — Five bodies trapped inside a sunken boat in Thailand's Andaman Sea were retrieved on Thursday, and the rescue team is continuing the search for the last remaining body on their fourth day of the search operation. Divers located the four bodies caught in the wreckage in waters about 70 metres deep on Wednesday but removing them could not be done immediately due to difficulty of access and a shortage of oxygen for the divers. Pol. Lt-Col. Wallop Puangpaka of the Phuket marine police said that the divers resumed their retrieval operation on Thursday and finally recovered the four bodies, believed to be those of an Austrian, a German and two Swiss nationals. During the operation, another missing body was found and recovered, but the rescue workers could not determine whether the body was the missing Japanese tourist or the missing Thai cook, Lt-Col. Wallop said. The accident occurred when the commuter boat 'Choke Somboon 19', ferrying some 30 Thai and foreign passengers from the Similan Islands to Phuket's Patong Beach, capsized Sunday night in high seas, heavy rain and strong winds. Twenty-three people were rescued initially on Monday, but seven were missing. The first body was found floating in the Andaman Sea on Tuesday and was identified as Austrian woman Gabrielle Jetzinger. With five bodies being brought to shore from the sunken wreckage on Thursday, the focus of the rescue team and divers is on searching for the last missing person. Frequent dive boat accidents in Thailand are often blamed on rough seas or overcrowding and poorly enforced safety standards. | 
