Families of the 2012 Lamma IV ferry disaster victims await a coroner’s ruling after a 13-year fight for answers over Hong Kong’s deadliest maritime accident.
HONG KONG: Survivors and families of victims from Hong Kong’s deadliest maritime disaster in decades continue their 13-year quest for answers after a coroner’s ruling was delayed.
The hearing, scheduled for Thursday, was adjourned on Tuesday to an undetermined future date.
On October 1, 2012, the Lamma IV ferry sank after a collision near Victoria Harbour, killing 39 people including eight children.
Newspaper editor Philip Chiu, 63, was aboard with his family to watch a National Day fireworks display.
“It hit us at high speed. I was knocked flat on to the deck,” Chiu told AFP.
The vessel sank in under two minutes, with Chiu’s elder sister among those trapped and killed.
“My mother asked me, ‘Why didn’t you save your sister?'” he recalled. “I didn’t know how to answer.”
A 2013 commission found a missing watertight door caused the ferry to sink rapidly after the collision.
“There was a litany of errors committed at almost every stage by many different people,” the commission stated regarding the boat’s design and inspection.
Two helmsmen and two Marine Department employees were jailed, while a separate probe alleged misconduct by 17 officers.
Sales manager Alice Leung, who lost her 23-year-old brother, said families pursued “justice and the truth” after official efforts stalled.
“This incident is more complex than a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle,” Leung said. “Over the past decade, we never saw the full picture.”
A coroner’s inquest this year, won via lawsuit by Leung and Chiu, heard from 84 witnesses.
Leung sobbed upon learning her brother’s body was found with head lacerations.
“For even the smallest details, the families want to know,” she said. “His death was too sudden, too pointless.”
Architectural photographer Ryan Tsui, 49, lost his brother and 10-year-old niece in the disaster.
“The first time I hugged my brother was when I carried the urn of his ashes,” Tsui said.
He listened with “incredulity” as witnesses dodged responsibility for the missing door, a fault present since the ferry’s 1996 construction.
“Every mistake that could be made was made, and each of the parties was complacent,” Tsui said.
The flaw went unnoticed despite dozens of government inspections over 16 years.
“The government bears major responsibility,” Chiu said. “If the government doesn’t change its culture, it will always make these mistakes.”
The Marine Department told AFP it amended safety laws and created a team to review vessel construction.
Post-2012, the average annual marine death toll in Hong Kong fell from 7.6 to 3.3.
The future coroner’s ruling will determine the cause of death but cannot assign punishment.
Chiu suffered permanent hearing damage and claustrophobia, while Tsui said the ordeal changed his personality.
Leung expressed no faith that Hong Kong could prevent a repeat tragedy without deeper reform.
“Thirty-nine people have died and that cannot be undone,” she said. “True relief comes from seeing a more robust Hong Kong.”
