At least one person has died and 21 people have been injured after an oil tanker caught fire off the coast of Lamma Island this morning.
According to Ming Pao, police received a report that the tanker, the Aulac Fortune, had caught fire about one nautical mile off the coast of the island’s south side at 11am.
The spot where the tanker had caught fire is close to Sham Wan, which is one of the few sea turtle resting grounds in southern China, and is also known locally as “turtle cove”.
A police spokesperson told Coconuts HK that so far at least one person has been confirmed dead, two are missing, and at least 23 were rescued.
The spokesperson confirmed that at least one of the 21 people who were injured was taken to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai for treatment. Apple Daily reports that one of the injured — a 36-year-old Vietnamese man — was taken to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam.
Police were unable to confirm to Coconuts HK how many crew members were on board the tanker and their nationalities, but Ming Pao reports that it had 27 members of crew, and most are believed to be Vietnamese.
Residents on Lamma Island reported hearing loud bangs, and feeling their windows and doors shaking.
One resident called Clare Merlo wrote on a Facebook for Lamma Island residents: “I felt it. My front door banged. The noise shook me right through.”
Deb Lindsay, a resident who lives in the village of Po Wah Yuen in the northern part of the island, wrote: “My windows shook really badly but the was no wind. I thought there had been an earthquake!”
According to Ming Pao, the Aulac Fortune is a Vietnam-registered vessel built in 2010, and it arrived in Hong Kong from the city of Dongguan, in Guangzhou province, last night. The vessel is about 144 meters long, and 22.6 meters wide.
We’ll update this story as more details emerge.
