Pedestrian Poon Shui-hing, 44, who suffered head injuries, died shortly after reaching Tai Po Nethersole Hospital. Mak Lai-chu, 53, died two hours later in Prince of Wales Hospital. A 14-year-old girl, Chiang Chin-yip, was in stable condition last night with a broken leg.

Police said the three pedestrians were waiting on a traffic island when the speeding van knocked down steel fences and hit them at about 8.50am. Chin-yip, a Secondary Three student, told police she saw the van zigzagging before it crashed..

Witnesses said four men leapt out of the vehicle and fled. A 29-year-old man thought to be the driver was later arrested on Fu Sin Estate.

The others were last night still at large.

Poon and Mak, both housewives, were on their way to market when the van hit them.

The vehicle, loaded with boxes of garments worth $7,000, had been stolen by at least two men from Wai Ching Street in Jordan at about 8.30am.

Police spotted it passing through the Lion Rock Tunnel heading towards Sha Tin after being alerted by tunnel managers, who had been warned to keep a lookout.

However, a police spokesman denied there were police cars chasing the stolen van when it crashed. 'We just notified our colleagues in the New Territories about the possible whereabouts of the vehicle. Our cars weren't behind the van,' the spokesman said.

A senior detective said initial investigations showed the van crashed after the driver lost control while making a right-hand turn.

The officer said the van could have been travelling at up to 160km/h judging from how little time it had taken to reach Tai Po from Yau Ma Tei.