A high-speed ferry traveling from Hong Kong to Macau collided with an “unidentified object” yesterday, injuring 87 people and raising new concerns over maritime safety a year after a ferry crash claimed 39 lives.
Last month, Hong Kong marked the one-year anniversary of a fatal ferry collision off Lamma island, its worst maritime disaster in more than 40 years that sparked widespread shock in a territory usually proud of its safety record.
In the latest accident, the hydrofoil Madeira carrying 105 passengers and 10 crew hit “an unidentifiable object” at about 1:15am near one of Hong Kong’s small outlying islands, boat operator TurboJet said.
“We know 87 people were injured, three of whom are in a serious condition,” a Hong Kong government spokeswoman said.
Japan’s foreign ministry said three Japanese nationals were hurt in the ferry accident, one of whom sustained head injuries and was still in hospital.
It was not clear what the object was, but passengers described being hurled out of their seats by the force of the nighttime collision.
“There was suddenly a loud bang. The ferry was thrown upwards. Then many passengers were thrown out from their seats,” one passenger, surname Wong, was quoted as saying by Hong Kong’s Apple Daily.
Multiple passengers were stretchered into ambulances by emergency services staff, some wrapped in neck braces and breathing through oxygen masks.
One passenger told Hong Kong television the crash felt like a “very big bang.”
“I could hear the sound ‘bang,’” he said.
Hong Kong’s waters are notoriously crowded. Hundreds of vessels, from rickety wooden sampans to enormous container ships, ply the shipping routes that crisscross the territory every day.
Ferries are a vital part of the transport network, connecting the main urban areas to Hong Kong’s numerous outlying islands, the mainland and Macau, but a spate of recent crashes has caused alarm.
James To (涂謹申), a Democratic Party lawmaker who has lobbied on behalf of the family members of those killed in last year’s crash near Lamma, said that there were growing concerns over safety standards for vessels traveling in Hong Kong waters.
“What I am concerned [about] is the safety of vessels and the system that operates them,” To said.
Three boats were scrambled to search the scene, but failed to find any object in the water, fire officials said.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
It turns out that looming collision between our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies might not happen after all. Astronomers on Monday said that the probability of the two spiral galaxies colliding is less than previously thought, with a 50-50 chance within the next 10 billion years. That is essentially a coin flip, but still better odds than previous estimates and farther out in time. “As it stands, proclamations of the impending demise of our galaxy seem greatly exaggerated,” the Finnish-led team wrote in a study appearing in Nature Astronomy. While good news for the Milky Way galaxy, the latest forecast might be moot
RSS