Two more people hit by a driverless bus after it rolled down a hill in North Point yesterday were confirmed dead last night, bringing the death toll to four.
The four — two men and two women — were among more than a dozen pedestrians mowed down by the runaway school minibus, which careened about 100 meters down Cheung Hong Street and crashed into storefronts at the junction of King’s Road and Hei Wo Street at about 2pm.
Last night, a 77-year-old man named Yeung Man-kan and a 70-year-old woman named Chan Shui-yee died from their injuries, according to Ming Pao.
The reports followed earlier confirmations that an 80-year-old woman named Ho Yuk-chun had been declared dead at the scene and an 83-year-old man called Leung Hung had died shortly after being taken to hospital.
Police are investigating whether the bus’s handbrake had been left off or whether a mechanical fault was to blame.
As can be seen on dash cam footage circulating online, the vehicle began rolling only seconds after the driver of the bus, surnamed Ng, parked and exited the vehicle after ending his shift.
Ng, who ran into the path of the bus in an attempt to stop its momentum, has not been arrested, as he has been unable to provide a statement after suffering significant injuries to his head, back, and neck.
He is among 11 people taken to hospital with injuries from the accident, according to Ming Pao.
Three, including Ng, are in critical condition. One, a 22-year-old woman, remains in serious condition. Three others — two women and one man aged 48 to 64 — are in stable condition.
The remaining four people — aged 40 to 70 — have since been discharged from hospital.
Some 15 ambulances and 82 emergency workers responded to the incident yesterday, with the first wave arriving on the scene within four minutes to find three people — two men and one woman — underneath the wheels of the vehicle.
According to veteran engineer Lo Kok-keung, whose comments were cited by Hk01, the vehicle’s weight of 3.5 tons, the road’s gradient of eight degrees, and the distance traveled means the minibus would have reached speeds of up to 56 kilometers per hour as it rolled down hill.
In the wake of the incident, officials, including Chief Executive Carrie Lam, expressed condolences to the victims and their families.
