Thai war-ship sinks; 33 go missing; rescue dispatched
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Bangkok: The Thailand Navy informed that on Monday, its military dispatched warships and helicopters in search of 33 marines who went missing in the Gulf of Thailand. A corvette sank overnight in the rough waters of the region, Reuters reported.
The military deployed three navy vessels and two helicopters to find those missing off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, south of Bangkok.
The corvette, HTMS Sukhothai, encountered an engine failure before it sank around 20 nautical miles off Prachuap Khiri.
A rescue mission had saved 73 of the 106 people aboard braving night and bad weather. Thirty-three is remaining who were forced to abandon the ship.
On Twitter, the Thailand navy shared footage and images of personnel in orange vests in a black inflatable raft moving away from a sinking vessel as waves swell around it.
Sukhothai was built by the US and has been operational since 1987. It was hit by strong waves on Sunday and got tilted to the side. It got flooded by seawater, according to the navy.
One of the pictures shared by the navy showed the ship getting flipped over its side. Further images depicted the bow of the ship and a gun turret poking out above the waterline as it was sinking.