A motorist and his two female passengers survived when their car smashed through an anti-crash barrier, flew off a flyover and burst into flames in Lai Chi Kok early yesterday.
The driver, 24, said he lost control of his car when he braked heavily to avoid hitting a taxi that had suddenly stopped in front of him on the Ching Cheung Road flyover near Lai Chi Kok Hospital just after midnight.
Police said the car ploughed through a 3-metre stretch of the anti-crash barrier, sailed off the flyover and tumbled 8.2 metres before landing below on Castle Peak Road.
'The car emitted smoke and then burst into flames. Three people on board managed to get out of the vehicle before it was well alight,' a police investigator said.
Firemen doused the flames minutes later. The driver and his passengers were bandaged by paramedics and taken to an ambulance.
They were treated at Caritas Medical Centre, where the rear-seat passenger, aged 30 and surnamed So, was in serious condition, and the driver, surnamed Lee, was in stable condition. The front-seat passenger, aged 24 and surnamed Lam, was discharged.