Six crew members have been arrested after a boat and a ferry collided in Hong Kong killing at least 37-people as they headed to a holiday fireworks display. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.
By NBC News staff and wire reports
Police on Tuesday arrested six crew members from two boats carrying partygoers that collided, killing at least 37 people in one of Hong Kong's deadliest maritime accidents.
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, The Associated Press reported.
Salvage crews were raising the Lamma IV, which sank after colliding with a ferry Monday 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.
Vincent Yu / AP
A half submerged boat is lifted by cranes Tuesday, after Monday night's collision near Lamma Island, off the southwestern coast of Hong Kong Island.
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 the national day and mid-autumn festival.
PhotoBlog: Mourning begins as bodies are recovered from ferry crash
Police are interviewing survivors to determine if others were still missing from the accident. Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has ordered a full investigation.
Dozens gathered at Kwai Chung Public Mortuary on Tuesday looking for relatives, the South China Morning Post reported.
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.
Vincent Yu / AP
Relatives of the victims throw paper money Tuesday as they pay tribute to the ill-fated people aboard a boat that sank Monday night near Lamma Island, off the southwestern coast of Hong Kong Island.
Witnesses Sarah Blackman told the BBC she was on board one of the boats involved.
"I was on the top deck of the ferry and felt the impact - it threw people off their seats. The sound the collision made was horrific," she told the BBC.
"Our ferry cut its engines and a crew member checked if passengers had sustained injuries from the impact. Our engines went back on, and a couple of other passengers and I went back to the rear of our ferry to look for the other boat that was now behind us, and that is when we saw it sinking in the water. As far as I'm aware, no lifeboats were on board - just life buoys and life jackets," she added.
Survivors told local television stations that the power company boat started sinking rapidly after the 8:23 p.m. (8:23 a.m. ET) 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.
A powerful typhoon swept through Hong Kong , pounding the region with heavy rain and strong wind. ?NBC's Ed Flanagan reports.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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