Vessel was partially submerged on Sunday morning in waters east of city
Rescuers in Hong Kong braved fierce winds and heavy rain on Sunday to save 11 people stranded at sea and two people trapped for hours on a mountain as Severe Tropical Storm Pakhar swept through the city.
At 9.40am Sunday, 11 crew members waiting in the control room of a sinking vessel called Hong Tai 176 were rescued by two aircraft of the Government Flying Service while storm signal No 8 was in force.
The service was alerted at 7am when the vessel was going down about 64 nautical miles east of Hong Kong. At 8am, a Challenger 604 fixed wing was deployed and located the vessel, whose bow was already submerged at 8.38am.
At 9.17am, a Super Puma AS 332 L2 helicopter arrived at the scene to join the rescue.
Rescuers reported that low clouds and rough seas reduced visibility during the rescue to just 500m.
