Strong winds wreak havoc across city

A truck driver escaped serious injury when his vehicle was crushed by one of 10 shipping containers that tumbled from their stacks after being hit by strong winds in Tsing Yi yesterday.

The Observatory said gusts of more than 80km/h were recorded in the district when the accident happened shortly before 3pm.

The 58-year-old man was driving on Tsing Yi Hong Wan Road. Ten empty containers toppled from their stacks in a container yard and one of them fell onto the road hitting the passing truck, according to police.

The driver suffered minor injuries to his face, hands and back and the left side of his vehicle was badly crushed. He was treated at Princess Margaret Hospital.

Separately, a 20 metre by 50 metre piece of scaffolding built around a block of flats was blown down by strong winds in Fuk Lo Tsun Road, Kowloon City hitting three passing vehicles - two Mercedes Benz and a minibus - at about 2.55pm. No one was injured in the incident. At about 2.45pm, two men fell into sea from their sampan when it was hit by strong winds off Po Toi Island.

They were fishing about 100 metres from the shore at the time of the incident.

A police spokesman said the two swam ashore and neither was injured.