The incident was Hong Kong's deadliest road traffic accident.[1]
Incident
Crash
On 10 July 2003, between 6:15 and 6:30 HKT, a Neoplan Centroliner bus was operating route 265M of Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB). The bus departed from Lai Yiu Estate, Kwai Chung, Kwai Tsing, and was heading towards Tin Heng Estate, Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long. A lorry running in the middle lane lost control as the bus approached the junction with Tsing Long Highway. The two vehicles collided, knocking the bus towards the side of the viaduct. The bus broke through the parapet, and plunged into Ting Kau Village 35 metres (115ft) below. The bus driver and 18 passengers were killed in the crash.
Immediate aftermath
Rescue operations were described as being the most challenging encountered by the fire services since the Garley Building fire. This was due to the constraints at the site (a rural village sited on a steep hillside with no direct road access, only accessible on foot from Castle Peak Road), and the sheer volume of severely wounded casualties.[4] Two more passengers died after being transferred to a hospital, bringing the death toll to 21. The incident left 20injured.
The bus was later lifted back onto Tuen Mun Road and transported to the vehicle compound at Siu Ho Wan. It was written off.
Drivers
The KMB bus captain Chan Wan-lin, who die in 41-year-old and had been with the company for 6 years with a good driving record[5]; He had just finished his menstrual leave two days before the accident and had just started work when the accident occurred, so he believed that the incident did not involve physical exhaustion or fatigue. The deceased's wife is unemployed. His eldest daughter is 11 years old and his youngest son is 5 years old.
Another driver involved in the accident was the lorry driver Li Chau-wing, 53 years old, who had three criminal records of violating traffic regulations between 2002 and the time of the accident[5]. He was driving the lorry on the middle lane at the time of the accident. He claimed that a passenger and cargo vehicle following him suddenly cut out of the center lane and he had to dodge and crashed into the bus. Between the traffic accident and the first trial, the lorry driver had two more convictions for traffic violations.
Responses
After the incident, then-Chief ExecutiveTung Chee-hwa visited the crash scene and pledged that the government would do all that it could to aid the survivors, to investigate the accident and prevent similar accidents from ever happening again.[citation needed]
The lorry driver Li Chau-wing was sentenced to 18months in jail after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. At the time, it was the most serious road accident in Hong Kong history.[5] He later appealed the rulings, which were subsequently overturned. Tests have shown that the vehicle he was driving was defective (tending to veer to the side when braking), and he was then found guilty of a lesser charge, careless driving, and his sentence was shortened to fivemonths and a two-year driving ban.[6]
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