Saturday evening’s fatal bus crash is Hong Kong’s worst such incident in 15 years, killing at least 19 people and injuring 65. The KMB (Kowloon Motor Bus Company) double-decker bus lost control and flipped onto its side en route from Sha Tin Racecourse to Tai Po Center, killing 14 men and four women at the scene. Another man died in hospital early yesterday morning, bringing the death toll to 19.
Nine people are still in critical condition, while 11 are in serious condition.
The Fire Services Department said it took firefighters 85 minutes to rescue all of the passengers trapped inside the bus.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced at a press conference yesterday that the families of the bereaved will receive HKD300,000. She promised to start looking for a judge to head an investigation.
The injured parties will receive between HKD150,000 and HKD250,000 depending on the severity of their injuries, funded by donations from several organizations.
“I would like to see this independent review be conducted and completed as soon as possible so that, if need be, the improvement measures could be put in place as early as possible,” said Lam, as cited in RTHK.
“But at this point in time, I’m afraid I cannot give you a very definite timetable, because we need to identify this judge and perhaps with or without another expert or person to assist the judge,” she added.
The driver, a 30-year old part-time employee, has been arrested for dangerous driving causing death and grievous bodily harm.
KMB has expressed its regret over the accident and announced that it will form an investigation committee led by its independent non-executive directors.
The bus company added that it will give HKD80,000 to each affected family and assist them in claiming insurance.
The Chinese central government also expressed its condolences to the families of the bereaved through a letter to the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council.
“We feel deep grief over the severe traffic accident,” the letter read.
“We noticed that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has adopted emergency measures to rescue those injured with all available resources and deal with relevant issues.”
A survivor told South China Morning Post that the bus appeared to be going as fast as 80 to 100km/h on Tai Po Road, which has a speed limit of 70km/h.
He believed that some passengers might have lived if they had only fallen on the shattered glass.
“But the bus was skidding,” he said, recalling an image of a woman whose neck was twisted. “People have already lost their lives. Money won’t make a difference.”
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