12-year-old Israeli girl killed in Thailand fire

A 12-year-old Israeli girl was killed Wednesday in a ferry fire while celebrating her bat mitzvah on a family vacation in Thailand, off the country’s southwestern coast.

The girl, whose name was not initially published, was apparently locked in a bathroom stall and was unable to escape while the evacuation of the boat was taking place, Channel 2 reported.

Police Col. Sompong Thip-apakul had earlier told the Associated Press that a 12-year-old “Western child” was missing, but was thought to have been picked up by another boat going to Phuket.

An Israeli rescue worker present at the scene of the accident told Channel 2 that the girl had died of smoke inhalation.

The Israeli family flew to Thailand for the Passover vacation to celebrate the girl’s bat mitzvah.

Officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Embassy in Thailand were looking into the incident.

Thip-apakul said the accident occurred on the Ao Nang Princess 5 ferry traveling from Krabi to Phuket, two of Thailand’s most popular beach resort areas.

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Most of the rescued passengers and crew, totaling about 110 — including the girl’s parents and brother — were taken to Krabi, several kilometers from where the fire occurred.

The ferry was located roughly 10 kilometers off the coast of the southern province of Krabi when a fire apparently began in the engine room, according to the Bangkok Post.

Photos taken by rescuers, including the Krabi Marine Police, showed the abandoned vessel burning down almost to the waterline before sinking.

Sompong said police were investigating the cause of the blaze, but the task would be difficult because the vessel had sunk.

AP contributed to this report.