Tears and anger as families grieve for victims of bus tragedy

Relatives of three Hongkongers who were killed when a bus crashed into a crowd of passengers in Shenzhen on Tuesday mourned at the roadside near the Lo Wu immigration control point yesterday.

Lee Wai-man, 45, Tsang Siu-king, 60, and Chan Choi-yuk, 65, were among five people crushed to death near the control point. A four-year-old boy from Chongqing was also among the dead.

Their relatives, some in tears, began arriving at about 10am for the hour-long ceremony. Chan's husband, Ma Yu-yu, who survived the accident, accused Luohu Coach Station management of only being interested in keeping the media away.

Some passengers who were not hurt or only had slight injuries wanted to help the seriously wounded and preserve the accident scene for investigation after the crash, he said. But they were taken into the coach station building. 'They were afraid of us complaining to the media,' Ma said.

Ma also said a transport policeman had refused to lend him a mobile phone so he could call his daughter and son. He had been heartbroken and alone at the scene for half an hour until Shenzhen reporters arrived and lent him a mobile phone to make the call. Tsang's wife said rescue workers had arrived too late. 'My husband was under the wheels for an hour,' she said.

'No one could take him out. I don't even know if he was killed outright in the accident or died as a result of the delayed rescue effort.'