One killed, 11 injured in border crash

A man was killed and 11 other travellers, including an infant, injured when a taxi rammed into a group of tourists just after they survived a bus crash on the Western Corridor cross-border route yesterday.

The bus was heading to Huizhou in Guangdong with 22 passengers on board when the driver lost control. The coach mounted a footpath before smashing into a lamp post near the border checkpoint at about 4.15pm, said Chief Inspector Chan Sai-leung, of the New Territories North traffic accident investigation team.

No one was injured on the bus, which was left with a badly smashed windscreen. The driver called police for help but before officers arrived, passengers got off the vehicle, retrieved their luggage and started walking along the road towards the immigration tower 200 metres away to cross the border, Chan said. 'Some passengers were standing on the road. Then the taxi came and it may have also lost control, ' Chan said.

The taxi careered for another 10 metres before coming to a standstill, with its front badly damaged.

A man, 73, was thrown about 10 metres by the impact and he was confirmed dead at the scene by ambulance officers. Eleven others, including an infant, were injured.

The injured were sent to Tuen Mun, Princess Margaret, Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth hospitals.

Two men were in critical condition in Tuen Mun Hospital last night and five others in serious condition in other hospitals.