Japan: 36 people were killed by the collision between two ships in Hong Kong (Pictures)

October 2, 2012
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Some 36 people were killed when two passenger ferries collided in Hong Kong and one of them sank during the night, in front of the Lamma Island.

Immediately there was a great relief operation, where dozens of survivors of the sunken ship, owned by Hong Kong Electric, were rescued

Reflectors were spread across the water, as rescuers desperately tried to locate survivors.

Survivors said they had little time to put on life jackets before the ferry flood.

‘After 10 minutes, the boat had sunk and we had to wait at least 20 minutes before being rescued’, so said one of the survivors.

‘We thought we were going to die. Everybody was trapped inside.’

The Fire Services Department said today that ’123 people had been rescued from the sunken vessel ‘.

Twenty-eight people were pronounced dead at the scene. Another eight people died by the time they reached the hospital.

The other ship, owned by Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry Holdings, was damaged but was able to get to the Lamma pier and several of its 100 passengers and crew were taken to hospital with injuries.