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Phila Siu

A total of 124 people were injured on Sunday night, five of them critically, when a high-speed ferry returning from Macau hit an “unidentified object” south of Lantau Island.
The injured, aged between six and 83, were sent to seven hospitals, with 87 discharged as of this morning. In addition to the five patients in critical condition, five were categorised as serious and 27 stable.
UPDATED: Mystery object that caused Hong Kong-Macau ferry crash identified as a rubber tyre
The Turbojet lost power after the accident and water began seeping in as passengers scrambled in the dark for lifejackets.
“Some people sustained injuries to their jaws, arms and legs,” one passenger said on the pier in Central after being plucked to safety by marine police.
Watch: 124 passengers injured in Hong Kong ferry crash

“Some could not even move. The lights suddenly went out. It was chaotic at first but then the passengers managed to calm down soon. Everyone was bleeding. I was injured on my forehead, arms and legs.”
“I was thrown off my seat,” said one passenger at the pier after being rescued.
“[The ferry] hit a hard object. There was a really loud bang, [and after that] many were injured,” said another passenger, surnamed Mok.
Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said the ferry hit a "floating object in the sea" while travelling a usual route.
"We still need the Marine Department and the police to investigate what the object was," Cheung, who visited the injured at Eastern Hospital on Sunday night with health minister Dr Ko Wing-man, told RTHK on Monday. 
Police received a call at about 7pm that the ferry – carrying 163 passengers and 11 crew – had slammed into an object near Siu A Chau, one of the Soko Islands.
Photos taken after the collision and circulated on social media showed some passengers sprawling on the ground having been knocked to the ground while others scrambled around trying to put on their lifejackets.

Television footage showed that the first group of passengers to be rescued by marine police vessels reached the Central ferry piers at around 8.30pm. Some were wearing oxygen masks as they were lifted into ambulances and taken to hospital.
But Tom Bosanquet, a Briton who works in Hong Kong, said he was worried because his wife and her parents were still on the ferry at 10pm – some three hours after the collision.
“My wife’s parents hurt their back and so they can’t move.”

The injured are being treated at Eastern Hospital, Ruttonjee Hospital, Queen Mary Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kwong Wah Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital and Caritas Medical Centre.
The latest emergency comes just two weeks after a fire broke out in the engine room of a Turbojet ferry from Macau that was carrying 134 passengers – all of them were safely evacuated.
In June last year, 70 people were injured when a ferry from Hong Kong slammed into a breakwater off Macau’s main ferry terminal.
A cross-border jetfoil carrying more than 80 airport-bound passengers from the mainland collided with a container ship in thick fog off Tuen Mun in February last year.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Cheung and Samuel Chan


'Everyone was bleeding': at least 100 injured as high-speed Macau ferry slams into unknown object near Lantau Island

A total of 124 people were injured and sent to seven hospitals, with 70 discharged as of this morning.

Police received a call about the accident at 7pm. They are now working to rescue the 174 passenger and crew on board. Photos: Edmond So

Injured passengers arrive at Government Pier.

One of the high-speed ferries on the Macau-Hong Kong route. It is not known which operator runs the ferry involved in tonight's accident

The accident took place off the Soko Islands

A Macau ferry is lifted out of the water after a similar incident in 2013

A ferry is left stranded after hitting a breakwater off Macau in June last year

The Turbojet ferry was taken to the Cheung Sha Wan shipyard. Photo: Edward Wong

Rubber tyre floating in sea suspected of causing Macau-Hong Kong high-speed ferry crash that injured 124 passengers

The Turbojet ferry, named Horta, was carrying 163 passengers and 11 crew on the way from Macau to Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The tyre was retrieved from the sea near the scene of the accident. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The ferry was damaged in the rear wing and engine room and water seeped in. Photo: SCMP Pictures

70 injured as Hong Kong high-speed ferry crashes in Macau

The high-speed ferry was carrying 220 people when it hit the breakwater at about 9.30am after departing Hong Kong about an hour earlier. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The ferry, similar to this one photographed in November 2013, is a high-speed hydrofoil that "flies" through its journey on an underwater wing. Photo: SCMP Pictures

An injured woman sent to hospital. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Scare at sea: 115 Hong Kong ferry passengers forced to evacuate as vessel takes on water off Lamma

The vessel was docked at Pak Kok Tsuen pier, where the 115 passengers and three crew were evacuated with no reported injuries.


There was drama aboard a Macau-bound high-speed ferry

The vessel was docked at Pak Kok Tsuen pier and moved away for examination.

Cross-border ferry collides with container ship in thick fog

Skypier at the Hong Kong International Airport. It links transfer passengers to eight ports in Guangdong and Macau. 

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