Woman hit by bus has foot amputated

A 19 year-old female student who broke her leg after she was hit by a bus in Mong Kok yesterday had her right foot amputated and remains in critical condition.

Huang Xiaoyi from Guangzhou was in Hong Kong for a day trip with friends when the incident happened on Wednesday afternoon. She was crossing a road at the junction between Argyle Street and Nathan Road, and as soon as she reached the sidewalk, a double-decker Citybus turned in and ran over her right leg breaking it.

Huang was taken to the Intensive Care Unit Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and a 47-year-old driver surnamed Liu was arrested and released on bail.

Huang’s family arrived at the hospital from Heyuen in Guangdong province yesterday to be at their daughter’s bedside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1FiMGlMxdw

She also needed to rely on medical equipment to help her breathe, and has to have surgery on her pelvis today, Apple Daily reported.

Huang’s mother said: “Such a young girl and she has been crippled in this way, it’s going to be hard for us as parents.”

The parents said they would arrange for their daughter to recover in Hong Kong, however they said they are worried about their daughter’s medical expenses. Because Huang does not have insurance and is not a Hong Kong ID card holder, her stay at the ICU costs up to HK$25,000 (about US$3,200) per day.

Huang’s mother also said Citybus has not yet contacted the family.

According to The Standard, Liu started working for Citybus in February, and the bus he was driving has been in use for four years, and its last check was on October 27.

The newspaper reported that on Wednesday he started work at 6:08am, and he was on his last run when the incident occurred.

The junction between Nathan Road and Argyle Street is known as a “black site”, and after Wednesday’s incident, you would think people would be more careful waiting on the same junction.

That however does not seem to be the case as this video posted by on.cc today proves.

The website revisited the same junction where the incident happened to see some people waiting a bit too close to the edge of the sidewalk, and others even standing outside the pedestrian railings. Some of the people interviewed said they thought that as long as they focus on crossing the road quickly then they will be safe.