October 1: On This Day in World History … briefly
The accident involved a Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry-operated passenger ferry, the Sea Smooth and a Hongkong Electric Company-owned vessel the Lamma IV, with 121 passengers and three crew members on board.
2012: Ferry collision off the coast of Hong Kong kills 38
On October 1, 2012, passenger ferries Sea Smooth and Lamma IV collided off Yung Shue Wan, Lamma Island, Hong Kong. This occurred on the National Day of the People’s Republic of China and one of the ships was headed for the commemorative fireworks display, scheduled to take place half an hour later. With 39 killed and 92 injured, the incident was the deadliest maritime disaster in Hong Kong since 1971.
At approximately 8.20pm, the Sea Smooth crashed into the Lamma IV on the port side. The bow of the Sea Smooth hit the stern of the Lamma IV, rupturing the ship’s two watertight compartments and thereby allowing them to quickly fill with water. The ship soon capsized with the rear sinking into the sea. The vessel reportedly went down so quickly that more than 100 passengers were thrown into the water unprotected despite the abundance of life-vests on board. The ferry left the scene after the accident and continued on to Yung Shue Wan pier. The front of Sea Smooth was damaged and its captain was also sent to the local clinic after the accident, along with several passengers, for injuries.
On February 14, 2015, Sea Smooth’s captain Lai Sai-ming was convicted of 39 counts of manslaughter over the deaths, while Lamma IV’s captain Chow Chi-wai was acquitted of the same charges by the High Court. Both men were found guilty of endangering the safety of others at sea. On February 16, Lai and Chow were sentenced to eight years’ and nine months’ imprisonment respectively.
A total of 39 people were killed in the accident, all from the Lamma IV, 30 of whom were pronounced dead at the scene, while eight others were certified dead upon arrival at hospitals and one died in hospital on October 5. 92 people on both vessels were injured, four of whom sustained severe injures. While the Hongkong Electric company claimed 124 people were on the Lamma IV, police suspected that there might have been more on board as company employees were allowed to invite their own friends. As a result, the number of people missing remained unknown.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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