HONG KONG -- Hong Kong police on Tuesday arrested six crew
members from the two boats involved in a collision that killed at least
37 people in Hong Kong's deadliest accident in more than a decade.
Police
Commissioner Tsang Wai-hung said crew members from both boats were
detained on suspicion of endangering passengers by operating the craft
unsafely, but he provided no other details.
Salvage crews were
raising the Lamma IV, which sank after colliding with a ferry Monday
night as it carried partygoers to a fireworks show celebrating China's
national day.
A body found aboard the vessel Tuesday afternoon raised the death toll to 37.
More
than 100 people from the party boat were rescued and sent to hospitals.
The ferry was damaged but completed its journey, and some of its
passengers were treated for injuries.
The ferry
collided with a boat owned by utility company Power Assets Holdings
Ltd., which was taking its workers and their families to famed Victoria
Harbor to watch a fireworks display in celebration of China's National
Day and mid-autumn festival.
Police didn't know the exact number
of people aboard the boat at the time of the accident and were
interviewing survivors to determine if others were missing. Hong Kong
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has ordered a full investigation.
There
was no immediate word about how Monday night's collision occurred on
the tightly regulated waterways of one of Asia's safest places, although
it appeared human error was involved. The evening was clear and both
vessels should have been illuminated by running lights when they crashed
near Lamma island off the southwestern coast of Hong Kong island.
Survivors
told local television stations that the power company boat started
sinking rapidly after the 8:23 p.m. collision. One woman said she
swallowed a lot of water as she swam back to shore. A man said he had
been on board with his children and didn't know where they were. Neither
gave their names.
Associated Press