- Driver of double-decker freed from wreckage but later pronounced dead in hospital
- Citybus slams into back of truck near Tai Lam Tunnel in Pat Heung, police say, closing one lane to traffic
A bus driver died and 14 other people were injured in a collision between a Citybus double-decker and a truck on a motorway in northern Hong Kong on Thursday.
The two vehicles were involved in the fatal crash on the Yuen Long-bound Tsing Long Highway, near the toll gate of the Tai Lam Tunnel in Pat Heung. Emergency services were called to the scene at 2.21pm.
According to police, the bus slammed into the back of the truck shortly after driving through the tunnel's toll gate.
The bus driver was found unconscious and trapped in the vehicle. Thirteen passengers and the driver of the truck suffered minor injuries.
"The bus driver was later certified dead in Pok Oi Hospital," a police spokesman said.
The bus driver, 65, had joined the company in 1997 and he was rehired after his retirement.
He passed a medical examination on January 29 and had his regular day off on Wednesday, according to the bus company.
He started his shift at 7.30am on Thursday and the fatal crash came about an hour after he had a tea break between 12.45pm and 1.24pm.
The company said the man was driving the 969 route double-decker bus from Causeway Bay to Tin Shui Wai at the time of the incident.
Thirteen of the injured were taken to Pok Oi Hospital and Tuen Mun Hospital for treatment.
Officers from the New Territories North traffic unit were investigating the cause of the incident.
The accident happened shortly after the bus drove off from a stop near the tunnel's toll plaza.
According to the firm, the British-made double-decker, bought about two years ago, had passed its inspection on June 26.
Citybus said it would help the family of the bus driver as well as the injured passengers and the company would fully co-operate with a police investigation into the cause of the accident.
According to Transport Department, the slow lane of the Tsing Long Highway toward Yuen Long, near Pat Heung Road was closed to traffic.
Latest police figures showed 43 people died in 42 fatal traffic accidents across the city in the first five months of this year.
On March 4, two drivers died and 16 bus passengers were injured when a Route 967 Citybus double-decker slammed into a stationary truck near the Kowloon entrance of Western Harbour Tunnel on West Kowloon Highway.
In February last year, a Kowloon Motor Bus double-decker flipped onto its side in Tai Po, killing 19 people and injuring more than 60 others. It was the city's worst road accident in nearly 15 years.
Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.