Damning report on the 2012 Lamma ferry disaster exposes possible crime
Probe points finger at 17 Marine Department officials and says there may have been a crime
An internal probe into the 2012 Lamma Ferry disaster has uncovered "suspected criminality'' and delivered a damning indictment of how one of Hong Kong's biggest and most important government departments is run.
The government minister responsible for a 430-page report into one of the worst maritime disasters in Hong Kong history - which claimed the lives of 39 people - said the investigation reached officials of the "highest rank'' and said it had been turned over to the police for criminal investigation.
Last night relatives of those who died in the tragedy on October 1, 2012, off Lamma Island expressed disappointment at the report, saying it did not find anyone responsible.
The report did, however, identify 17 marine officials up to directorate level guilty of misconduct and mirrors the findings of an earlier commission of inquiry into the tragedy by listing a litany of "systemic problems and deficiencies'' within the Marine Department.
Irene Cheng, whose son Thomas Koo Man-cheung, 24, died in the ferry collision between the Lamma IV and Sea Smooth ferries, said the families were disappointed with the report. "It did not reveal who committed offences and what offences they committed," she said.
The report pinpointed "serious systematic failings" across the department, saying internal communication was weak and records poorly kept.