Ferry accident in southern China kills 2 Dutch

HONG KONG – Officials say two Dutch citizens were killed when a high-speed ferry traveling from Hong Kong to the neighboring southern Chinese city Guangzhou collided with a sand barge.

Hong Kong Marine Department spokesman Patrick Wong said the accident on the Pearl River late Thursday claimed the lives of a Dutch man and Dutch woman. It also injured two fellow Dutch travelers, five travelers from mainland China and two from Hong Kong.

Dutch Consul General to Hong Kong Robert Schuddeboom said the two killed were part of a Dutch tour group of 18 people who had spent the last three weeks traveling across China together. Schuddeboom declined to give the names of the victims. He said the two injured Dutch suffered only slight injuries.