A British woman died in a fire on a dive boat off Koh Tao, Thailand, on Sunday. She was reportedly inside the toilet when the blaze started.
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Alexandra Clarke, 26, was aboard the Davy Jones Locker when she died, Surat Thani province police chief Major General Sermphan Sirikhong told reporters.
The boat was taking 22 people – including tourists, scuba instructors and boat crew – to the Southwest Pinnacle, a popular dive site about 9km (5.6 miles) from the island of Koh Tao, the Bangkok Post reported.
Witnesses, including the boat captain and crew, recounted that Clarke had asked to surface from her dive to use the bathroom, according to local news outlet Khaosod. She was believed to be still inside the toilet when the fire broke out, just moments before a distress signal was sent at 9.25am local time.
Initial investigations revealed that a crew member from Myanmar – identified only as Tae, 48 – was filling diving tanks with compressed air when the equipment malfunctioned, triggering the fire that engulfed the boat.
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