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Found - second cabbie who carried 'patient zero'

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The second taxi driver feared to be infected with the H1N1 flu virus after carrying Hong Kong's 'patient zero' last week has been found and put in quarantine for seven days.

Both men said they did not realise they were wanted by health officials, and one blamed the government for putting out wrong information and the failings of an emergency hotline.

The second cabbie traced yesterday, surnamed Tam, who took the Mexican to hospital on Thursday, said he did not call a Health Department hotline until about midnight on Monday because another man had claimed to be the driver so he thought he must have been mistaken.

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That man, a 33-year-old driver named Cheung, was arrested for wasting police time on Sunday after admitting he had lied.

The first driver, surnamed Wu, who picked up the Mexican at the airport on Sunday and took him to the Metropark Hotel in Wan Chai, was tracked down on Sunday morning.

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Speaking to the Post, Mr Wu said the Health Department appealed for a driver who had carried three Mexican men from the airport to call them. But there were actually three men and a woman.

'I called them anyway on Friday night but I didn't get through after almost two hours, so I gave up,' he said.

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