Japan, Niigata – Eighty passengers were injured when a hydrofoil collided with what was believed to be a marine animal off Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture on March 9, local authorities said.
Thirteen of the injuries were serious, including broken bones, according to the Niigata Coast Guard Office and the local fire department. It was a clear and sunny day.
“Passengers were thrown into a panic immediately after the collision,” said a graduate student at a university in Tokyo who was returning on a visit home to Sado.
The Ginga hydrofoil, which was carrying 125 crew members and passengers, collided with the unknown object around 12:15 p.m. about 10 kilometers east of Ryotsu port on Sado Island in the Sea of Japan, according to the operator Sado Steam Ship Co.
The ferry was heading from Niigata port to Ryotsu port at a speed of about 65 kph. It arrived at Ryotsu port about an hour after the accident under its own power.
Passengers were treated at a temporary first-aid station set up on the pier.
Source and full English article: The Asahi Shimbun
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201903100020.html
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