At least seven people were injured in a road accident in Hong Kong on Saturday after a cab ploughed into a crowd after driving onto a pavement in Causeway Bay.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that accident took place at around10.30 am outside the Sogo department store that was having a mid-year sale. The area was quite crowded with the store customers as well as pedestrians who were waiting to cross the road.
The police arrested the cab driver for dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm. According to SCMP reports, the 71-year-old driver, who was surnamed Lau passed the breathalyser test.
The seven injured people include a six-year-old child and an 89-year-old citizen. Injured people were immediately taken to a nearby hospital.
Three patients were discharged from the hospital on Saturday afternoon while another patient was declared to be in stable condition. Rest of the three injured people sought treatment themselves.
According to reports, Lau's vehicle was travelling along Hennessy Road when it seemed to lose control before mounting the pavement.
The video footage of the surveillance camera showed the taxi hitting some people to the ground and scattering panicked crowds before halting. But most surprisingly, after stepping out of the taxi the driver first checked the side of his car for damage without approaching the injured people.
"Someone ran onto the road suddenly and I could not stop my car immediately," Lau told Cable TV.
He also added that he had passengers in his car when the incident took place.
SCMP also reported that Lo Kok Keung, a mechanical expert and traffic accident consultant viewed the CCTV footage and said the speed of the taxi was estimated to be around 42 kmh at the moment it hit the crowd.
"If the car had not come to a stop and continued on at this speed, more people would have been severely injured," Keung said.
