Five people were killed and more 32 injured in a collision between a taxi and a coach in Tsing Yi in the New Territories on Friday morning.
The accident happened at about 5 am when a coach, carrying 36 Cathay Pacific workers heading to Hong Kong International Airport, crashed into a taxi which stopped in the middle of the Cheung Tsing Highway in Tsing Yi, Apple Daily reported.
Five people – the taxi driver, two male and two female coach passengers – were killed instantly. The 62-year-old coach driver was in a critical condition in hospital. About 32 passengers on the coach were sent to hospitals for medical treatment.
Police said preliminary investigations showed the coach crashed into the taxi 40 seconds after it pulled up on the highway near the exit of Nam Wan Tunnel and they did not find any skid marks at the scene, Radio Television Hong Kong reported.
A dashboard camera captured the accident and showed that the taxi was thrown forward about 50 meters and the bus then hit the road divider on the right-hand side before it rebounded to slam into the partition on the left-hand side of the road, police said.
Superintendent Michael Yip from the New Territories South traffic police unit said they believe the driver was thrown out of the bus, but the vehicle continued to move forward for a few meters before coming to a stop.
He said three passengers were also thrown from the vehicle. It was understood the driver had only been in the job for 10 hours. He started working at 7 pm on Thursday.
Police are investigating whether the bus driver was exhausted or was driving under the influence of alcohol.
