TEMPO.CO, Hong Kong - Dozens of people were injured Friday in a high-speed ferry boat accident off of Hong Kong's coast. At least 85 people were injured - six seriously.
CNN reported the boat struck an unknown object near Sunshine Island around 1:20 am, a government spokeswoman said. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.
There were 107 passengers and 10 crew members aboard the ferry at the time of the incident, officials said.
"There was suddenly a loud bang. The ferry was thrown upwards. Then many passengers were thrown out from their seats," one passenger, Mr. Wong, was quoted on Hong Kong's Apple Daily news website.
RTHK quoted a spokesman, Wong Man-chung, for the ferry company Turbojet as saying that a hydrofoil had hit the object in the water around 15 minutes after it departed from Hong Kong. He said the high number of injured was due to passengers not wearing their seatbelts, according to RTHK.
After the accident, the vessel went back to Hong Kong Island's downtown Sheung Wan terminal where a dozen ambulances were waiting to tend to the injured, a government spokesman told AFP. Local television footage appeared to show the ferry being towed back to the terminal.
ANINGTIAS JATMIKA | CNN | BANGKOK POST
