Thirty-seven injured in five-vehicle chain collision on Hong Kong’s Tsing Ma Bridge
Two in critical condition, with one passenger thrown out of bus window by impact
Thirty-seven people were injured, two critically, in a chain collision involving five vehicles on Tsing Ma Bridge on Sunday that was followed by a serious traffic jam on the sole thoroughfare for Hong Kong International Airport.
At about 5.30pm, a Kowloon-bound light goods van slowed down as it approached roadworks on the bridge.
A coach behind the van failed to stop in time and hit it. This was followed by additional collisions as three more coaches joined the pile-up. The vehicles were shuttle buses for airport workers.
Dashcam footage showed a passenger sitting near the entrance of the last coach being thrown out of a broken window onto the bridge.
The drivers and passengers sat by the roadside waiting for assistance. A total of 37 people were taken to four hospitals.
The driver of the last coach had to be freed by firefighters. He and the passenger thrown out of the vehicle were in critical condition. The other 35 victims were stable or discharged after treatment.
All five drivers involved passed police breath tests.
The three Kowloon-bound lanes on the bridge were closed after the pile-up, resulting in severe traffic congestion on North Lantau Highway, stretching to as far as Sham Shui Kok at one point.
Kowloon-bound traffic was diverted to the lower deck of the bridge. The closed lanes were reopened at about 9pm.
