Twenty-seven people are missing following their ship was cut in half by a typhoon in the South China Sea on Saturday, the Hong Kong government’s air support service said.
The engineering vessel was 160 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong when it got caught up in Storm Chaba; it “sustained significant damage and broke into two pieces,” the Hong Kong Government Flying Service said.
Help was dispatched to the scene following being notified around 7:25 a.m. local time (2325 GMT Friday).
Three of the 30 crew members were rescued at 3 p.m. local time and taken to hospital, authorities said.
Footage provided by Hong Kong authorities shows a person being airlifted as waves crash onto the deck of the half-submerged ship.
According to the three survivors, other crew members may have been swept away by the waves before the arrival of the first helicopter, a statement from the Hong Kong government reported.
Typhoon Chaba formed in the central South China Sea and made landfall Saturday followingnoon in southern China’s Guangdong province.
The location where the ship was located recorded winds of 144 kilometers per hour and waves reaching 10 meters high, authorities said.
Rescuers will expand the search area “due to the large number of missing people” and extend the operation into the night if conditions allow.
