Bodies were found clinging to one another: Lamma rescue divers
Some of those who died were found holding hands or were huddled together, divers say as they recount their rescue operations
Victims of the National Day ferry collision were found clinging to one another in the cabin of the sunken Lamma IV amid swirling currents, the inquiry into the disaster has heard.
Divers told yesterday of finding and retrieving bodies from the stricken vessel after its collision with the Sea Smooth ferry on October 1 last year.
Senior Station Officer Chan Man-fai, a Fire Services diver, said he found four bodies without life jackets behind debris on the upper deck of the Lamma IV. Three were holding on tightly to one another.
"I believed I had discovered a family of three members as the child was grasped by a female adult [and] the female was grasped by another male," Chan said. "I thought they had gathered together because they could not find a way out of the vessel."
The bodies were later identified with different surnames.
Diver Yuen Ka-wai said he was pushed into the cabin by a powerful current and retrieved a body without a lifejacket. "When the water rushed in, it was like a washing machine," he said.
The waves were even stronger at the surface and water rushed in from the windows of the ferry, said Yuen. "I had to use a lot of strength to stabilise myself and get the victim out through the window," he said.