124 Injured in Hong Kong High Speed Ferry Crash

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Hospital authorities said Monday most have been discharged, but 33 remained in hospital including five critically injured.

Ferry operator Shun Tak said water had seeped into the vessel’s engine rooms and the rear wing was damaged after the collision.

A major rescue operation was mounted after the ferry lost power following the collision.

Media reports described scenes of chaos, and photos showed wounded people being stretchered onto ambulances at a pier in Hong Kong’s Central financial district.

The South China Morning Post reported that a rubber tyre was retrieved afterwards near where the ferry crashed and investigators are trying to find out whether it had any role in the accident.

The city has one of the world’s busiest ports, with hundreds of high-speed ferries, cargo ships, fishing boats and yachts criss-crossing it daily.

But fears over its maritime safety have grown following a spate of accidents in recent years, including a crash in 2012 that killed 39 people when a high-speed ferry collided with a pleasure boat near Lamma Island.

A subsequent inquiry found a “litany of errors” contributed to the accident, the city’s worst maritime disaster in over 40 years.

In 2013 another high-speed ferry crashed into an unidentified object, injuring 87 and raising concerns over the problem of rubbish-strewn waterways.

In June2014 more than 50 people were injured when a Macau-bound ferry crashed into a seawall.