More than 36 died in Hong Kong ferry accident

More than 36 people have died after two passenger boats collided off Hong Kong's Lamma Island on Monday evening, throwing more than 100 people into the sea.

The crash happened on a night when Hong Kong's busy waters were even more crowded than usual, as the city celebrated China's National Day.

One of the vessels, owned by The Hong Kong Electric Company, was carrying company employees and their families to watch the scheduled fireworks display when it was struck by a passenger ferry traveling from Hong Kong Island to Lamma.

Government officials said the collision occurred off Lamma's coast at around 8:20 p.m. local time.

"I thought we'd hit a rock or a lighthouse," said Chris Head, a school teacher who was on the passenger ferry that crashed into the Hong Kong Electric vessel.

He said the force of the impact threw him out of his seat at the back of the ferry, which was not very full of people.

As the damaged ferry began to move toward the pier in the small town of Yung Shue Wan on Lamma, Head said he could see the other boat had started to sink into the water vertically, like the Titanic.

According to the Hong Kong Fire Services Department (FSD), which led the rescue, the vessel sank quickly after the impact. It said low visibility and many obstacles on board made it difficult for rescuers.

The FSD said its rescue boats, including a diving support vessel, arrived on the scene at 8:41 p.m. local time and managed to pull 123 people from the water.

Twenty-eight people were declared dead at the scene, and eight others were certified dead upon arrival at the hospital, according to a statement early Tuesday from the Hong Kong government. The survivors were taken to five hospitals around the city, with nine said to have serious injuries, the government statement added.