Two Dutch dead in ship collision

By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-07 09:01

GUANGZHOU: Two foreign passengers were killed and nine more wounded in a collision between a cargo ship and a high-speed passenger liner Thursday night in sea waters off this southern city, local authorities confirmed on Friday.

The cabin of the passenger boat was seriously damaged by a sand-loaded cargo ship in the Pearl River estuary at about 7:45 pm Thursday.

The two victims were among 75 passengers and 10 crew members onboard, setting off from Hong Kong along its regular route to the Lianhuashan port, headed to Guangdong province, a press notice from Panyu district government said.

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The two dead were a 64-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman from the Netherlands, authorities confirmed.

Among the injured passengers, two are Hong Kong natives, with another two also from Netherlands. The rest were Panyu natives.

Those who were injured were immediately sent to hospitals nearby.

As of yesterday afternoon, one Hong Kong passenger had left the hospital after treatment.

The rest are all in stable condition, the notice added.

Two of the injured passengers from the Netherlands are being treated in the Panyu Central Hospital.

"One of the women injured her spine, and the other received minor facial injuries," said Liang Xinmin, deputy director of the hospital's emergency room.

The women had requested to return to the Netherlands for further treatment, said Liang.

All crew members onboard the cargo vessel were uninjured, local authorities said.

Police immediately stopped the sand vessel after its captain attempted to get away following the collision.

He has been detained for questioning.