‘Catapulted two metres by impact’: Hong Kong student, 18, in critical condition after being struck by lorry
Driver, 45, arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving but released on bail pending further investigation
An 18-year-old university student is fighting for her life in hospital after being knocked unconscious by a lorry in Kowloon Tong in the early hours of Thursday.
Police arrested the lorry driver, 45, on suspicion of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm as initial investigations showed the vehicle was probably trying to speed through a red light.
Shortly after 1.15am, Baptist University student Lau Ka-kee was trying to cross Waterloo Road near the junction with York Road when she was hit by the Sha Tin-bound lorry in the traffic light-controlled pedestrian crossing area.
She is believed to have been jogging towards her dormitory at the nearby Kowloon Tong campus, according to a police source.
“She was catapulted about two metres away by the impact before landing in the middle lane of the carriageway,” he said, adding that her earphones were found at the scene.
Lau suffered serious head injuries and was taken unconscious to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei in critical condition.
The driver, who passed a breathalyser test, was released on bail pending further investigation. He has not been charged but is required to report back to police next month.
Police appealed for witnesses or anyone with information to contact officers at 3661 9011 or 3661 9000. The Kowloon West traffic investigation team is investigating.
According to police, the site was not a traffic black spot.
The crash came four months after an elderly driver was jailed for three-and-a-half years after a judge blasted him for speeding in a poorly maintained and overloaded truck in an accident that killed a Baptist University student and left another severely injured in the Sha Tin-bound of Waterloo Road in Kowloon Tong last year.
The truck slammed into a taxi that was at a red light at the junction of Waterloo Road and Hereford Road. The taxi then hit one passer-by, Lo Cheuk-ki, 19, and ran over another, Kan Chi-man, 20. Lo was severely injured, and Kan died after five days of medical care in hospital.
Police figures show 73 people died in 70 fatal road traffic accidents across the city in the first eight months of this year.