Hong Kong ferry crash caused 37 deaths, 6 arrested

Hong Kong police arrested six crew on Tuesday after a ferry carrying more than 120 people on a field trip collided with another vessel and sank, killing at least 37 people in one of the worst maritime accidents in the city. The ferry from Hongkong Electric Company, controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, carrying the Monday night to employees and family to watch the fireworks in Victoria Harbour in the city to celebrate China's National Day and Festival Mid-Autumn, when it collided with another ship and began to sink near Lamma Island. Five children were among those killed. More than 100 people were taken to hospital, nine of them seriously injured or in critical condition, the government said in a statement. "We suspect that someone did not fulfill its responsibility, so we make the arrests," said commissioner Andy Tsang. "Do not rule out the possibility of their occurrence more arrests," he added. Those detained crew of both vessels. The collision triggered a major rescue operation that included dive teams, helicopters and boats. "In about 10 minutes the boat had sunk. Had to wait at least 20 minutes before we were rescued," said a male survivor, wrapped in a blanket on the shore. Some survivors said people had to break the windows to swim to the surface. "We thought we were going to die. Everybody was trapped inside," said a middle-aged woman. Hong Kong Electric, a unit of Power Assets Holdings which is controlled by Asia's richest man, said the ship had a capacity to accommodate up to 200 people. The tragedy is the worst hit Hong Kong since 1996, when more than 40 people died in a fire in a commercial building. The other ship, owned by Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry Holdings, was badly damaged in the crash, but managed to get to the dock Lamma, an island popular with tourists and expatriates located a half hour boat ride from Hong Kong. Several of the approximately 100 passengers and crew were taken to hospital with injuries. "After the accident, all was chaos and people were crying. Then the water began to seep into the boat and began to lean to one side and told people that was located on the other side and everybody started donning lifejackets ", told reporters that he was a passenger on the ferry to Lamma reached. Hong Kong has one of the most charged shipping lanes in the world, but serious accidents are rare. The city is known for its high-quality public services and advanced infrastructure. A spokesman for the ferry from Hong Kong and Kowloon said the company is trying to determine what happened. "Our captain is not right and we could not talk to him so far," the spokesman told local television. A Hong Kong official said the search was to be adversely affected by the fact that the boat was partially sunk, there was poor visibility and too much clutter. The search for survivors continued on Tuesday.