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Stella Lee

Four Hong Kong tourists died and three were among the missing early today after a pleasure boat overturned in Manila Bay.

 The King Roger, carrying 46 tourists - mostly from Hong Kong - and three crew, capsized after it was buffeted by strong waves an hour before dusk yesterday. Thirty-nine people were rescued and six were missing.

 Survivor Leung Tak-wing, 28, said: 'I was standing on the upper deck when the boat began to rock so the crew asked us to sit down. But then a big wave suddenly came right over us and turned the boat on its side.'  The Travel Industry Council, which handled hundreds of calls from relatives, said the dead were Lam Wing-sun, 72, Wong Suk-ching, Leung Po-wan and 12-year-old Chak Yuk-ming.

 Nine survivors were in hospital, including Japanese boy Tsuyoshi Takashima, nine, the son of Leung Po-wan. His father was safe.

 Four tourists had backed out of the sunset cruise minutes before it was due to sail, police said.

 The boat went down about 400 metres from the marina of the Manila Yacht Club, beside the Philippine Navy headquarters.

 Rescuers said they could hear people trapped inside the boat knocking on the hull. But by nightfall, after hacking through the hull with axes, they found only pieces of wood and plastic.

 Tourism Secretary Mina Gabor said the boat was not licensed to carry passengers.

 However, its captain, Romeo Farolan, blamed the accident on the tourists. He said they had panicked when strong winds and high waves rocked the King Roger - a dilapidated, motorised double-deck ferry with outriggers - as it headed to port. Mr Farolan said: 'They all went to one side of the boat. The boat suddenly tipped after the passengers rushed to the right side of the boat. I was shocked.'  From her hospital bed, survivor Wong Mei-kang, 54, described how her sister-in-law Leung Po-wan died.

 Mrs Wong said: 'She was standing on the upper deck when the boat suddenly started rocking backwards and forwards. All of us fell into the water.

 'I was so scared. I don't know how to swim and we didn't have any life-jackets.

 'By the time I was saved I found my sister-in-law had died. She was a very smart woman who organised the whole trip for us.' The accident happened on the first day of the tour.

 Leung Tak-wing, Mrs Wong's son, said the guide changed the programme earlier in the day.

 The sunset tour of the harbour should have been on the fourth of their five-day tour. However, organiser Landmark Travel said the holidaymakers had asked to go on the trip yesterday.

 Mr Leung said the wooden boat looked very old.

 He added: 'We didn't know it would be so windy until we got out into the bay. Had I known about the weather we wouldn't have come. I saved myself by climbing up the side of the upturned boat, by clinging on to anything I could on the side of the boat. I just stayed there holding on until some small rescue boats arrived about five minutes later.'  Other survivors were being sheltered in the Admiral Hotel next door to Manila Hospital. Dr Milo Villena said medical staff had been rushing between the accident scene and the hospital since they were alerted at about 5 pm. He said: 'Fourteen medical teams, from our hospital and six other hospitals nearby, were deployed. Each team has four to five medical staff and an ambulance.'  Late last night, a crane was being used to lift the sunken ferry, which had been towed to the back of the navy headquarters, in an effort to find the missing. Many of the tourists lost travel documents when the boat capsized and could encounter problems leaving the Philippines.

 Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said he was saddened to learn of the accident. He said the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines was in contact with the Government. It had sent embassy staff to help the victims. It was the second boat disaster of the day in the Philippines. Earlier, an inter-island vessel sank in the Samar Sea off the central island of Biliran. Thirteen people, including a baby girl, drowned and 47 were missing.

DEAD Lam Wing-sun, 72 (female) Wong Suk-ching (female) Chak Yuk-ming, 12 (male) Leung Po-wan (female) INJURED Tsuyoshi Takashima, nine, (male) Wong Mei-kam (female) MISSING Chan Nga-moon (female) Leung Ho-ching (male) Ho Yuk-lun, four (male) 



Four drown, six missing as HK tour boat sinks in Manila