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Chan's Ferrari on fire in TST on Wednesday evening. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Manila bus siege survivor's HK$3.2m Ferrari catches fire on Hong Kong street

Sports car engine catches fire in Tsim Sha Tsui

A survivor of the Manila hostage crisis cheated death again on Wednesday night when his Ferrari burst into flames at a busy junction in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Joe Chan Kwok-chu, 51, was driving along the east-bound lane of Jordan Road at about 7pm when smoke began pouring from the engine.

With half the car engulfed in flames, Chan managed to get out of the vehicle unharmed. He bought the car in 2008 for about HK$3.2 million.

Firemen took a few minutes to extinguish the flames. No one else was reported injured.

Chan took a police breath test at roadside and later said he was fine. A police spokesman said there was nothing suspicious about the incident.

Lo Kok-keung, of Polytechnic University’s department of mechanical engineering, said the fire was probably caused by petrol leaking onto the engine or exhaust. Another possibility was a short-circuit caused by overheated wires. 

On August 23, 2010, Chan was on the tourist bus in Manila that was hijacked by a sacked policeman, Rolando Mendoza. During a bungled rescue attempt, Mendoza shot dead eight people and his bullets broke both Chan’s wrists.

Chan lost the feeling in his right hand and had to give up his car repair business.

He had joined the four-day tour to the Philippines operated by Hong Thai Travel Services with his then girl-friend Yik Siu-ling, whose lower jaw was shattered by a bullet.

Surgeons in Taiwan rebuilt her jaw after 33 unsuccessful attempts in Hong Kong.

Survivors and relatives of the dead have been battling for years to claim millions of dollars in compensation from the Philippines for their losses.

In June 2012 Chan was fined HK$3,500 for careless driving and another traffic offence for cutting double white lanes and jumping traffic lights in a Lotus sports car on Route Twisk in April that year.

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