Boats collide in Sydney Harbour

The accident occurred at about 2:40 a.m. (5:40 p.m. Britishtime on Wednesday) when a small cabin cruiser and a trawlercollided near Bradley's Head in the middle of the harbour, theysaid.

According to news reports, passers-by helped those in thewater to reach shore and rescue boats and helicopters rescuedsurvivors within an hour.

"It was pitch black, it was quite cool, we did have ahelicopter which had been deployed to the scene to assist andmanage the patients," an ambulance official said.

"At that early stage it was extremely difficult case intrying to determine how many patients we did have."

Nine people were taken to hospital, two with seriousinjuries. All the casualties appeared to be from the cruiser.

The injured, eight men and one woman, were aged between 18and 31, said a spokeswoman for the Royal North Shore Hospital.

News reports said the small boat appeared to be a repairvessel that would not normally hold up to 14 people.

(Reporting by Kazunori Takada; editing by Andrew Dobbie)