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.
