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Fiona Chow

Lo Hoi-ying

A taxi driver was arrested after his vehicle collided with a private car on a Hong Kong road early on New Year’s Day, leaving three members of a Pakistani family dead and four others injured.
Police said the accident on the West Kowloon Highway near the Olympian City shopping centre occurred at 1.44am on Wednesday when a taxi carrying two passengers cut across a lane and hit a car with five people in it.
The motorist, 30, lost control of his car, which then rammed into the road divider before hitting another moving taxi and three vehicles parked at the roadside.
Police said the man was driving his relatives in the car. The car, which had been heading in the direction of the Western Harbour Tunnel, was wrecked and its engine thrown onto the road.
The impact of the collision caused the black vehicle to swerve and spin round on the road. Footage from the scene showed large amounts of vehicle debris strewn across the road, with a door detached from the car.
The taxi appeared relatively intact.
Dashcam footage recorded by another driver in an opposite lane showed the car crashing into the road divider on its left side and a taxi close behind.




Other dashcam footage which emerged on social media showed the taxi switching from the slow lane to the middle one before crossing to the fast lane, and then colliding with the black car approaching it from behind.
After the crash, the taxi swerved back into the middle lane and hit another cab.
Police said the car driver suffered severe injuries and died at the scene. Two of the four male passengers, aged 33 and 34, in his car were found unconscious. They were taken to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung where they were declared dead before 2.47am.
The deceased driver was reportedly a married Pakistani-born man with a newborn son and a boy in kindergarten.
His younger sister said he was the family’s main breadwinner and worked as a driver using the vehicle involved in the accident. She said he had been out celebrating New Year’s Eve with friends as he was not working that day.
He was the second oldest of four siblings, and had an older sister and a younger brother. The sister said the two sons would be cared for by relatives.
A 21-year-old in the car sustained back injuries and was unconscious when taken to Princess Margaret Hospital. Another 25-year-old passenger in the car also suffered back injuries and was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei.
The 65-year-old taxi driver was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving causing death and remained in police custody as of 5pm on Wednesday.
The two passengers in his taxi were a couple aged 23 and 19. They sustained arm and leg injuries. The driver was not injured and did not require medical treatment.
Police’s Kowloon West Special Investigation Team of Traffic is investigating the accident.

The force has urged witnesses to the accident to contact the investigating officers at 3661 9023.
On Monday, a 68-year-old pedestrian died after a car mounted the pavement on Jordan Road and crossed three lanes before crashing into a road divider and coming to a halt. Two other pedestrians sustained injuries.
The driver in that case was arrested by police on suspicion of dangerous driving.
The maximum penalty for those convicted of dangerous driving causing death is 10 years’ jail and a fine of HK$50,000 (US$6,400).
The city recorded 73 fatal traffic accidents in the first 10 months of 2024. Annually, around 96 fatal road accidents on average were reported between 2019 and 2023, according to Transport Department data.
The department did not break down how many deaths involved taxi accidents.
Two taxi drivers were killed in September after they were hit by a third vehicle on the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor when they stopped to discuss an earlier collision.
The number of taxis involved in traffic accidents reached a five-year high of 5,263 in 2023, compared with an average of 4,046 between 2019 and 2022.


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News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Taxi cut across lane and hit car on West Kowloon Highway early on New Year’s Day, police say


Taxi cut across lane and hit car on West Kowloon Highway early on New Year’s Day, police say.


Hong Kong taxis

Traffic and road safety in Hong Kong

Crime in Hong Kong