Passengers on Hong Kong bus describe horrifying experience as double-decker crashes into barrier, tilts to side: ‘I worried it would flip’
- Those on board route 290A KMB vehicle say they saw others tossed from seats
- Police arrest 54-year-old bus driver on suspicion of dangerous driving
Fifty-eight passengers on the upper deck of a tilted Hong Kong bus were forced to remain in their seats for up to an hour to prevent it from toppling over after it crashed into and mounted a divider on a busy road on Monday.
Police said 44 of the 76 passengers on the double-decker were sent to four hospitals for treatment while the bus driver, 54, was detained on suspicion of dangerous driving.
The KMB bus on route 290A from Tseung Kwan O to Tsuen Wan was travelling along Ching Cheung Road in Cheung Sha Wan when it crashed near Lai Chi Kok Park at 9.43am.
The double-decker rammed into a crash barrier, mounted a concrete divider and came to a halt tilted to its right, police said. The front left of the bus was badly damaged and flying glass fragments hit a passing car.
Before emergency workers arrived, 14 passengers jumped out of the rear emergency exit on the lower deck. The driver remained behind the wheel and four elderly passengers with walking difficulties stayed on the lower deck while another 58 commuters were trapped on the upper deck.
A female passenger surnamed Lai who had been sitting in the front row of the upper deck recalled her ordeal.
“I thought the bus would switch lanes, but it went straight on and crashed into a barrier,” she said.
The bus then mounted a concrete divider and tilted to its right. “I was very scared. I was worried it would flip over,” Lai said.
When the vehicle came to a halt, Lai said, she immediately asked other passengers to calm down and not to move to prevent it from toppling over.
Inspector Chan Pak-ki of the police force’s Kowloon West traffic unit said: “It’s very fortunate that the passengers on the upper deck stayed in their seats. If they rushed out, it might have affected the balance of the bus.”
Passengers on the upper deck remained seated until firefighters secured the bus with steel cables and other equipment.
Lai Chi Kok Fire Station commander Leung Kin-ming said: “Because the bus was not stable and it could have overturned, we needed to secure it. And after that we evacuated all of the passengers from the upper deck.”
A man surnamed Yeung who was on the upper deck said he saw one passenger thrown about four to six metres (13 to 20 feet) from his seat by the impact.
A woman seated on the lower deck said: “There were two loud sounds, ‘bang’, ‘bang’, before the bus stopped. An elderly man was thrown to the floor. He was bleeding from the head and unable to stand up. I helped him to stand and get off the bus.”
After firefighters secured the double-decker with and parked a fire engine next to it to prevent it from falling over, passengers trapped on the upper deck were led to safety. Rescuers also boarded the bus to help some of the passengers get out.
A police spokeswoman said the bus was carrying 36 women and 41 men, including the driver. Six suffered serious injuries, and another 38 were slightly hurt.
She added 44 people were sent to four hospitals – Caritas Medical Centre, Princess Margaret Hospital, Yan Chai Hospital and Kwong Wah Hospital. Rescue services sent 15 fire engines and 33 ambulances to the scene.
The force said the driver, who was unhurt, was released on bail, pending further investigation. He is required to report back to police next month.
KMB said the driver had worked on the route for more than two years and had a day off on Saturday. The bus was inspected on Thursday last week as part of regular checks.
The company said it would fully cooperate with police to investigate the cause of the crash.
All Kwai Chung-bound lanes of Ching Cheung Road were closed to traffic after the crash. Traffic jams stretched about 4km (2.5 miles) along Ching Cheung Road and Lung Cheung Road, ending near Phoenix Road and Tai Po Road around Chak On Estate, at around 12.30pm. The road fully reopened to traffic later in the day.
Chan said the section of road where the crash took place was not a traffic black spot.
He said police were looking at several lines of inquiry, including the driver’s mental state and driving behaviour and also looking into the speed of the bus and whether the vehicle had any mechanical faults.
