Mum, 38, & son, 5, rescued after being swept into Hong Kong sea during Super Typhoon Ragasa

A peaceful family outing near the shoreline has turned into a tragedy.

A 38-year-old mother and her five-year-old son were swept into the sea and sent to the hospital for intensive care on Sep. 23 while watching waves at a breakwater near Chai Wan in Hong Kong, reported the South China Morning Post.

Details of the incident

The mother and son had gone to the waterfront with the rest of their family members — a nine-year-old daughter and a 40-year-old father — to watch the waves.

This was despite the No. 8 warning signal issued by the Hong Kong Observatory for Super Typhoon Ragasa at 2:20pm that day.

A massive wave struck and pulled both mother and son into the sea, prompting the father to jump into the sea to try and rescue them.

An eyewitness account, reported by The Standard, mentioned that there were already a dozen people watching the waves from the shore, while the affected family was positioned close to the water’s edge.

The fire services department was alerted about the incident at about 3:25pm.

Local boat operators managed to rescue the unconscious mother and son, who were then attended to a few minutes later by firefighters.

An official statement by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer said that transferring the woman to shore was difficult due to the unstable sea conditions.

“The rescued woman and the child were on a boat that was more than two metres from the shore. To provide immediate first aid, firefighters had to board the boat to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the woman.”

They then transferred the mother and son, including the father who was still in the water, onto a fireboat where they were brought ashore for further emergency CPR and treatment.

All three were rushed to the Eastern District Hospital for urgent care.

The uninjured daughter, reported The Standard, was also escorted to the hospital by police officers.

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Top images via The Standard