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SCMP Reporter

THREE Hong Kong people were killed in a freak New Year's Day whitewater rafting accident in a newly opened tourist area of Bali.

The expedition, touted as suitable for people aged five to 65, claimed the lives of Lam Yick-cheong, 60, Kwong Chi-sum, 41, and Chan Liu Ho-bik, 30.

Lam, an Australian passport-holder, saved two women before he hit a rock face-first.

The company which handled the ill-fated group had been operating for four months at the Unda River, in the eastern Bali regency of Klungkung.

The accident happened shortly after the six rafts left the starting point at Payungan. There were 28 tourists aboard.

'A flash flood struck them, turning the dinghies over,' head of the Klungkung regency, Ida Bagus Oka, was quoted as saying in a local daily, the Bali Post.

Ms Oka said residents washing nearby had rushed to the scene and, with police, helped pull the survivors to safety.

One resident told the South China Morning Post the region - downstream from Bali's largest mountain, the 3,142-metre Mount Agung - was prone to flash flooding during the wet season between November and March. It had only recently been opened to rafting.

Asked whether it was safe to raft there during those months, she replied: 'It's very dangerous.' Ms Oka declared a ban on rafting in the region during the wet season 'to ensure there would be no repeat of the incident'.

The tourists were in the care of three Indonesian travel agencies, Prima Wijaya, Semesta and Kuta Walet, and the rafting company, Arha River Rafting.

An Arha River Rafting employee said the firm had been in operation four months.

Company vice-president Agung Wedana was unavailable for comment.

The Bali Post quoted an unnamed employee of the company as saying the accident was a 'pure disaster'.

There had been no sign of rain and no one was aware of the danger of flash flooding.

'Maybe the flashflood came from Mount Agung,' the employee said.

The bodies of Lam and Chan were found on Monday, while Kwong's body was recovered yesterday morning.

Local police chief Lieutenant-Colonel G. K. Kesuma said four Hong Kong people, including Ng Kwok-wai, 27, had been treated in hospital for slight injuries.

At least two other Hong Kong people were injured but not sent to hospital.

Lam had joined a Sunflower travel agency tour with his wife, Lam Chung Yee-ching, who was not injured.

Sunflower's senior operations manager, Vicky Leung Yee-ka, said three relatives including the Lams' daughter had been flown to Bali yesterday.

The Hong Kong tourists were part of a 17-strong group who were on a seven-day tour of Bali, Bromo Cottages and Shaid Surabaya.

The other members will return on Friday.

Sunflower's brochure promotes the rafting as being suitable for those aged between 'five and 65'.

Tourists pay US$65 (HK$500) for the 30-minute trip.

The brochure says they are responsible for their own safety.



Bali rafting tragedy kills 3 HK tourists