Dozens injured in Hong Kong ferry crash

At least 120 people hurt after high-speed ferry on way from Macau smashed into object in the water

Ferry passengers walk with rescuers after arriving in  Hong Kong on Sunday.  About 100 people were injured when a ferry returning from Macau to Hong Kong collided with an unknown object, a police department official said. Photograph: Reuters
Ferry passengers walk with rescuers after arriving in Hong Kong on Sunday. About 100 people were injured when a ferry returning from Macau to Hong Kong collided with an unknown object, a police department official said. Photograph: Reuters

More than 120 people have been injured, five of them critically, when a high-speed ferry coming from the Asian gambling hub of Macau smashed into an object in the water.

Firefighters said the hydrofoil carrying 163 passengers and 11 crew hit the unidentified object off a small island in Hong Kong’s western waters on Sunday night.

The hospital authority said a total of 124 people were hurt.

TV news channels showed passengers, some with bandages on their heads, arriving at a pier and being taken to waiting ambulances.

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It is the fourth accident in two years on the hour-long ferry route between the coastal Chinese territories of Macau and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong suffered its biggest maritime tragedy in 2012 when a boat and commuter ferry collided, killing 39 people.

PA