By IANS,
Hong Kong: A major rescue operation for missing passengers was launched after two boats collided off Hong Kong, injuring more than 20 people, said police Monday night.
The crash occurred in the evening (around 12.30 GMT) when a ferry, carrying over 120 people, was hit in the middle part by a tug boat.
One of the boats was carrying 124 passengers and half-sank after Monday night’s collision near Lamma island, which lies some three km south-west of Hong Kong island, and is popular with tourists and expatriates, BBC reported.
Search teams had rescued over 100 people from the water, reported local media. More than 20 injured people had been taken to a hospital on Lamma island, a police spokesperson was quoted as saying.
An official with a local power supply company, which rented the ferry for its staff for one-day outing, said 124 people were on the ferry when it was hit in the middle part by a tug boat, Xinhua reported.
By about 11 p.m. (local time) as many as 101 people had been rescued and sent to local hospitals, said the statement.
Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung told reporters that relevant departments of the city government have made all-out efforts to rescue those who fell into the sea.
The accident occurred during a busy period for passenger travel in Hong Kong, at the end of a long holiday weekend to mark the mid-autumn festival that this year coincides with China’s National Day Oct 1.