Search continues off Phuket after Chinese tourists die in capsizing

Rescuers in Thailand deployed helicopters and divers on Friday to search for survivors after two boats with a total of 127 Chinese tourists on board capsized in a storm off the country's southern resort island of Phuket on late Thursday afternoon.

At least 16 Chinese tourists died in the accident, 33 others were missing and the remaining 78 Chinese travelers had been rescued, according to the Chinese embassy in Thailand.

Norraphat Plodthong, the governor of Thailand's Phuket province, put the death toll at 33 and said 23 others were still missing as of Friday night, without clarifying how many of those were Chinese.