Dozens seek help from counsellors after ferry tragedy in Hong Kong

Dozens of potential post-traumatic stress disorder patients have been identified in the wake of Monday's tragedy.

A counselling group said 33 people who called to express anxiety included a mental patient who suffered a relapse after watching television coverage of the disaster.

Others seeking help included survivors, rescuers and ordinary citizens - mostly female - said Timothy To Wing-ching, executive director of the Post-Crisis Counselling Network. Some would need follow-up action.

"One survivor couldn't sleep. However much he smoked, and drank, [he] just could not sleep," he said, adding that this was normal in cases of depression, especially as one or more of the survivor's relatives were among the 38 people killed.

One woman in her 60s who signed a condolence book in Causeway Bay told how depressing images of the deaths had caused nightmares that plagued her for two nights.

"Maybe it's because I don't work that I kept the news cycle playing at home. I watched the tragedy unfold from morning to evening," said Helen Choi Mei-ling, a retired bank worker.