Bai Chay Hospital confirmed on Friday that the victim was a 68-year-old Taiwanese woman.

The hospital was notified that a foreign tourist had suddenly lost consciousness while eating aboard a cruise ship around 9:30 a.m. that day. The emergency team arrived at the pier and received the patient around 9:50 a.m., finding her undergoing basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), with food and digestive juices in her throat and a weak pulse.

After performing chest compression, they transferred the tourist to Bai Chay Hospital.

Despite receiving advanced CPR, after approximately 75 minutes at the hospital, the tourist was pronounced dead.

Her body has since been transferred to the Ha Long City funeral home.

A representative of the cruise ship where the incident occurred stated that the tourist experienced difficulties while eating the breakfast buffet, possibly caused by consuming a dish similar to sticky rice cakes.

The sticky rice cakes that a Taiwanese tourist is suspected to have choked on at a buffet breakfast on a Ha Long cruise ship, before dying. Photo courtesy of the cruise ship

Witnesses reported that the tourist took a large bite, which caused her to choke. Some passengers aboard the ship attempted to perform first aid, but the victim only coughed up blood. By the time the ship returned to the mainland, the tourist had lost consciousness.

A representative of the Ha Long City People’s Committee confirmed that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Ha Long Bay, famous for cruise tours, is a popular tourist destination among foreign tourists.