1 dead, 12 hurt as bus mounts footpath

Driver 'was frozen to his seat without saying a word until KMB workers arrived and helped him leave the vehicle'

A double-decker bus had its roof ripped off when it mounted a pavement and ploughed into the concrete canopy of a commercial and residential block in Mongkok yesterday afternoon, killing a man and injuring 12 others.

The Kowloon Motor Bus vehicle rolled along the footpath in Waterloo Road for about 20 metres and knocked down four pedestrians before it came to a stop outside Waterloo Plaza at about 4.30pm, police said.

One of the four, courier Chan Ming-fuk, 31, was trapped under the bus and had to be freed by firefighters. He was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where doctors declared him dead at 5.30pm.

Six men and six women - the other three pedestrians, the 46-year-old bus driver and eight passengers - were taken to Queen Elizabeth and Kwong Wah hospitals. Two men and a woman were in serious condition last night and three others, including the driver, were stable. The rest were discharged after treatment.

The bus, plying route 270A from Kowloon MTR station, was heading for Sheung Shui when it crashed. After knocking down the pedestrians, it mowed down a traffic light and railings, then crashed into the canopy, losing its roof.

A passenger, who gave his name as To, said he was reading a newspaper on the lower deck when it happened 'all of a sudden'.