PHUKET, Thailand (13 Mar 2009) — The body of the last victim of the MV Dive Asia I dive boat accident has been recovered. Thai police told CDNN a helicopter search crew spotted the body of missing MV Dive Asia crew member Jumpa Somrak, who served as cook aboard the ill-fated vessel. The Phuket-based 30-meter liveaboard dive boat capsized and sank at about 11:00 pm on Sunday March 8, killing Somrak and six tourists including three Austrians, two Swiss and a Japanese national. The boat was returning from the Similan Islands, a popular scuba diving destination in Thailand, when it was apparently hit by gale-force winds. Witnesses told CDNN the vessel first listed, then capsized about two minutes later and sank after a few more minutes. Some 23 tourists and crew managed to scramble into two life rafts but had to wait fourteen hours in stormy weather before they were finally rescued by a Thai patrol boat at about 2:00 pm on Monday. The captain of the M/V Dive Asia told police the boat sank so quickly he did not have time to make a mayday call. The survivors finally reached Phuket at about 4:30 pm where they were treated for minor injuries including cuts, bruises and sunburn. Frequent dive boat accidents in Thailand are often blamed on rough seas or overcrowding and poorly enforced safety standards. | 
