Speedboat catches fire and explodes off Waglan Island; three illegal immigrants jump into the sea to escape, one dead, two rescued

^{Waglan Island Photo: Geographer, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33377155}

A speedboat caught fire and exploded off the coast of Waglan Island yesterday morning (20/9). A passing boatman found two men wearing life jackets floating on the sea near Tung Lung Chau, Sai Kung, and rescued them. The two were then sent by the Marine Police to the Sai Kung Marine Police Base. After investigation, the police confirmed that the rescued two men, one 39-years-old and the other 29-years-old, were both mainlanders and were arrested on suspicion of “illegal entry”.

A couple of hours later, around 10:00 am, a helicopter of the Government Flying Service found a speed boat on fire near Waglan Island. When the fire boat arrived at the scene, it was confirmed that there was no one on board. It is reported that the fire boat had exploded. Later, at around 4:00 pm, the police found another man wearing a life jacket in the sea off Cape Daguilar, Hong Kong Island, but he was confirmed to be dead when taken out of the water.

According to reports, the speedboat involved was carrying three mainland men at the time it exploded. Some people reported that due to a mechanical failure, a fire and explosion occurred when the speedboat sailed to the vicinity of Waglan Island, and everyone on the boat jumped into the sea to escape. During the incident, the 43-year-old man found at Cape Daguilar died and his body drifted away.