Ferry catches fire in Thai South, Israeli girl found dead, all others safe

KRABI, THAILAND, April 9 (TNA) - A tourist ferry caught fire and sank in the sea off Krabi Province in the Thai South on April 8, killing an Israeli girl, while about 100 other passengers and crew members were rescued. The Ao Nang Princess 5 ferry caught fire while it was carrying about 100 foreign tourists from the Railay Bay in Krabi's Muang District to the Rassada Port in nearby Phuket Province and it then sank about eight kilometers off a pier of the Hat Noppharat Thara National Park in Krabi on Wednesday. Divers finally discovered the body of the only missing 12-year-old Israeli girl with the ferry on Thursday morning, after all other passengers and crew members had been rescued. About 20 divers from Krabi, the Third Naval Area Command and the marine police had tried to find the girl, identified as Shani Maril, in high waves. The girl had reportedly left her parents for a toilet just before the ferry caught fire. Her body was found near the left gunwale of the sunken ferry. Officials initially assumed that a short circuit caused the fire, which quickly engulfed the ferry and sank it in the sea, while an official probe on the cause of the incident was continuing. (TNA)