Typhoon Chaba: Hong Kong rescuers to search into night for 27 missing crew members after ship snaps in 2; 3 treated in hospital
- Government Flying Service has rescued three crew members, but the fate of the other 27 on board ‘Fujing001’ is unknown
- Seafarers plucked from stricken ship told rescuers their fellow crewmates might have been swept away
Hong Kong rescue teams will search into the night after pulling to safety three members from the 30-strong crew of a vessel that snapped in two during a typhoon, with the status of the remaining 27 still unclear.
The trio told rescuers their fellow crewmates might have been swept away from the stricken, tilted ship, as they could only cling on to railings.
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Dramatic rescue under way after Typhoon Chaba snaps ship in two off coast of southern China
Hong Kong’s Government Flying Service on Saturday afternoon said it would widen the search zone by carrying out two more sorties before nightfall and extend the rescue mission into the night if the weather allowed.
The operation – centred on the mainland China-registered engineering vessel “Fujing001” – was launched with the No 8 typhoon warning signal in force.
The Observatory lowered the typhoon warning to No 3 at 4.20pm. It estimated that the signal would remain in force until 4am on Sunday.
The flying service earlier said it had been alerted to the sinking by the Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at 7.25am.
A fixed wing aircraft and two rescue helicopters raced to the scene, about 300km southwest of the city, and two more helicopters were also dispatched to the area.
