Lamma IV passengers 'buried' under falling debris
Lamma IV became underwater tomb for more than 20 victims, with cabin's only exit blocked
Detached seats and fallen ceiling panels trapped passengers on the upper deck of the doomed cruiser Lamma IV after it collided with a ferry, turning the cabin into an underwater grave for more than 20 people.
As well as falling on the victims, the debris blocked the only exit from the cabin.
This emerged yesterday as the search for bodies went on and fire services officers checked the wrecked vessel, beached at Nga Kau Wan on Lamma Island.
"Seats broke off from their fixtures and fibreboards dropped from the ceiling," a government source said. "Debris slid on to the victims and buried them."
The victims rolled to the rear end of the upper-deck cabin when the 24-metre boat sank vertically to a depth of 15 metres with only its bow above the surface.
Rescuers had to break windows to pull survivors out of the cabin.
"Divers discovered more than 20 bodies buried under debris on the upper deck. They included children," the source said.
"External wounds such as head and arm injuries were found on the victims. They were not wearing lifejackets."
At least three other bodies were discovered in the lower cabin of the vessel, one entangled in damaged railings.
Divers from the police elite team the "Flying Tigers" and the Fire Services Department found 28 bodies in the wreckage of the Lamma IV.
Another two bodies, trapped under the sunken vessel, surfaced when the boat was raised by three crane barges on Tuesday afternoon.
The 30 victims were among 38 people, including five children, killed in the city's deadliest sea disaster in four decades.
Another source said the Lamma IV, with a nine-square-metre hole ripped in the left rear of its hull, sank within two minutes after the collision.
Yesterday, divers from the Fire Services Department checked the wreckage and the seabed at the site of the collision, but no more bodies were found.
An air and sea search continued yesterday as it remained unclear how many people, if any, were missing. A Marine Department officer said the search was expected to continued for the next two days.
