A mainland woman died while apparently trying to save people thrown
into the sea after a fishing boat hit a cargo vessel just outside Hong
Kong waters on Saturday.
By Monday morning seven others were still missing after the crash,
which came on the same day as another deadly incident near the city’s
maritime border.
The fishing boat sank after hitting the cargo ship 40 nautical miles
south of the Soko Islands, and 60 nautical miles south of Lantau Island.
Hong Kong’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) got a call for
help at about 9.20pm.
The city’s Government Flying Service (GFS) sent a Super Puma
helicopter and Challenger 605 aircraft for a search and rescue
operation. Officials said nearby vessels pulled six people from the
water, but seven people remained missing.
One of the rescued six, a 46-year-old mainland woman, was airlifted
to a GFS base on Lantau Island and then to North Lantau Hospital in Tung
Chung. But she was confirmed dead at about 1am, before reaching the
hospital.
A police spokesman said the woman was from a passing fishing vessel,
not involved in the collision. She was said to have fallen into sea
while trying to rescue others.
The search was temporarily suspended on Sunday night. The MRCC was set to decide whether to resume it on Monday.
The collision happened the same day as the captain of a mainland fishing vessel was killed after a yacht competing in an around-the-world race crashed with his boat near Hong Kong waters.
The yacht of American-Danish team Vestas 11th Hour Racing, competing
in the Volvo Ocean Race, hit the boat at about 1am on Saturday. The
latter sank and 10 fishermen fell into the sea to the east of Waglan
Island, including the captain. Nine other fishermen were saved by other
boats.
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