November 15, 2012
Hong Kong police on Thursday charged two ferry captains with manslaughter following a fatal ferry collision last year that left 39 people dead -- the city's worst maritime disaster in decades.
The two men, who were not named but whose ages were given as 54 and 56, were arrested last year along with five other crew members in connection with the collision off Lamma Island near Hong Kong on the night of October 1, 2012.
The collision involved a passenger ferry traveling from Hong Kong Island to Lamma Island and a vessel owned by the Hong Kong Electric Company, which was carrying company employees and their families to watch a scheduled fireworks display.
Survivors described how the collision upended one of the vessels, flinging passengers into the water. Rescuers picked up 123 survivors but at least 92 passengers were injured in the incident.
Passengers on board the ferries said how they had only moments to escape.
