A dramatic aviation accident occurred in the early hours of today at Hong Kong International Airport, where a B-747 cargo aircraft ran off the runway during landing, striking a ground service vehicle and partially plunging into the sea. Two airport security personnel aboard the vehicle died on impact, while the four crewmembers of the aircraft were rescued and are uninjured. The incident, which local authorities are already investigating, occurred at around 03:53am local time on the airport's north runway. The flight, identified as EK9788 and originating from Dubai's "Al Maktoum" International Airport, was operated by Turkish carrier Air ACT on behalf of Emirates SkyCargo.

According to airport sources and confirmed by the Hong Kong Police, the Boeing 747-400 (registration TC-ACF), after touching down, suddenly veered to the left, exited runway 07L and collided with a security patrol vehicle travelling along the outer perimeter road, propelling it into the sea, before the aircraft itself also ended up in the water. The impact was fatal for the two occupants of the service vehicle, aged 30 and 41, later recovered by fire crews. One employee was declared dead at the scene, the other at the hospital.

Images released from the scene show the aircraft fuselage broken and semi-submerged near the breakwater, with the emergency slides deployed. The four crewmembers were able to evacuate the aircraft and were assisted by emergency teams; they were taken to hospital for checks but are reported uninjured.

The Civil Aviation Department (CAD) and the Airport Authority (AAHK) have confirmed the opening of an investigation. The north runway (07L/25R) was immediately closed to allow recovery operations of the wreck and the necessary safety checks, causing the cancellation and/or rescheduling of some cargo flights. The exact cause of the runway excursion has not yet been determined. This is considered the most serious airport accident for Hong Kong in the last 25 years.

Air ACT in a statement expressed condolences and sympathy to the families of the two victims, offering full cooperation to the authorities in the ongoing investigations. 

Below, in the Reuters–South China Morning Post video, the aircraft broken into two sections lies in the water: