When a bus fell from an elevated road in Hong Kong, killing 21 passengers, after being hit by a truck
- A double decker bus plunged 50 metres from an elevated road in Tsuen Wan in 2003, killing 21 of those on board and injuring 20, after a truck ran into it
- The bus was carrying commuters and school pupils. Investigators suspected passenger panic may have led it to topple as it see-sawed on a safety rail
“Why did 21 people have to die like this?”, read a headline in the South China Morning Post on July 11, 2003.
“Investigators probing yesterday’s bus disaster suspect passenger panic could have toppled the vehicle off the edge of Tuen Mun Road as it hovered momentarily on safety rails after being hit by a truck,” the report stated.
“Twenty-one people were killed and 20 others were injured after the double-decker bus, carrying schoolchildren and early morning commuters, plunged 50 metres off the busy elevated road at 6.30am yesterday.
“The Kowloon Motor Bus service on route 265M came to rest on the edge of Ting Kau village [in Tsuen Wan], surrounded by debris and bodies.
“Government sources yesterday said that the bus, which was travelling in the slow lane, rolled onto the barrier on impact. ‘The bus see-sawed for a second. Passengers might have panicked and moved to the front so they could get out. It might be that that was why it plunged,’ one said.