Hong Kong driver killed when rock smashes through windscreen in freak accident
Expert says impact from fist-sized object could have been up to 300 pounds
A rock about the size of a hand struck a moving car with as much as 300lbs of force, smashing through the windscreen and killing the driver.
Police said the rock – measuring 10cm by 15cm by 10cm and weighing 3 to 4kg – may have fallen from another vehicle. It went through a corner of the windscreen before hitting retired policeman Tam Chi-keung, 59, on the right side of his face. He was declared dead at the scene.
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The bizarre accident happened at about 6.50am yesterday on Cheung Sha Wan Road. Tam was driving to his Tsuen Wan home along the West Kowloon Corridor after taking his wife to Sai Ying Pun in Western district.
After Tam was hit, his black Mazda MPV continued to drift for about 100 metres before it stopped beside a roadside barrier. Another driver called police.
Chief Inspector Sun Lun-yum, from Traffic West Kowloon, said the police were looking at footage taken by a camera in the car.
“From the driver’s perspective, it was unlikely he could avoid the rock, as it came towards him all of a sudden,” he said.
