25 injured after two buses collide in Shing Mun Tunnel
A collision between two buses in a tunnel yesterday morning left 25 people injured, six seriously.
The two Kowloon Motor Bus vehicles, both bound for Nina Tower in Tsuen Wan, collided in the Shing Mun Tunnel in Sha Tin at about 11am.
The two drivers and 23 passengers, aged between five and 70, were hurt. Most of the injured passengers suffered head injuries.
Four women and two men were in serious condition in hospital yesterday. Another man was in stable condition.
Police said the driver of a route 73X bus stopped his vehicle in the tunnel, and a route 278X bus rammed it from behind. The 73X bus had reportedly been forced to stop by a private vehicle that had broken down in the tunnel.
Diesel leaking from the buses spread on the ground and caused the tunnel's Tsuen Wan-bound carriageway to be temporarily closed.
The injured were sent to Princess Margaret Hospital and Yan Chai Hospital. Both drivers passed breathalyser tests.
It was the second traffic accident involving buses during the Lunar New Year.
On Monday, two bus drivers and 11 passengers were injured when two buses crashed head on in Lei Tung Estate Road, Aberdeen, and a taxi crashed into one of the buses.
Acting transport commissioner Albert Yuen Lap-pun said the Department had ordered the bus companies to submit reports on the accidents and would ask them to review their work-scheduling system.
The department will meet bus companies to discuss arrangement of working hours, holidays and drivers' rest time.
Kowloon Motor Bus said previous checks on the buses, which were 12 and 14 years old, had shown they were in good condition.
The bus drivers had just started work when the crash took place.
