Twenty-seven people are missing after their ship was halved by a typhoon in the South China Sea on Saturday, the Hong Kong government’s air support service said.
When the engineering vessel was caught in the Saba storm 160 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong; It “sustained significant damage and broke into two pieces,” Hong Kong’s state aviation service said.
Help was dispatched to the scene after being tipped off at 7:25 a.m. local time (2325 GMT Friday).
Officials said three of the 30 crew were rescued and taken to hospital at around 3pm local time.
Footage released by Hong Kong authorities shows one person being hoisted aboard the half-submerged ship as waves crash onto its deck.
According to three survivors, other crew members may have been swept away by the waves before the first helicopter arrived, according to a Hong Kong government report.
Cyclone Saba, which formed in the central South China Sea, made landfall in southern China’s Guangdong province on Saturday afternoon.
Officials said winds of up to 144 kilometers per hour and waves up to 10 meters high were reported at the ship’s location.
Rescuers will extend the search area “due to the large number of missing persons” and extend the operation into the night if conditions permit.
