When 5 people were killed and 50 hurt by a runaway Hong Kong bus

South China Morning Post

a day ago

'A driver was arrested yesterday after a bus ploughed into a huge crowd at North Point killing four people and injuring 46,' reported the South China Morning Post on July 23, 1979. 'The man, Ling Sum-ha (57), has been charged with dangerous driving causing death. He was released on $5,000 bail and is required to report to Traffic headquarters, Island, tomorrow.
'Driver held after bus horror', reported the South China Morning Post in July 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives
'The accident happened at North Point bus terminus shortly before 9am when it was packed with about 1,000 people – hundreds of whom were heading for a day's outing to the beaches. About half the people were in a U-shaped queue at the stop for Route 62 which runs to Chung Hom Kok via Repulse Bay. As they were waiting under the sun, a No 62 bus driven by Ling halted about 25 yards from the stop to unload passengers.
'The bus was then to have gone to the stop to pick up new passengers. But a No 8 double-decker was blocking the way. Police have taken possession of a note which was attached to the steering column by a previous driver. The note is believed to have referred to a 'noise' the gear box had been making. Mr Ling got into the No 8 and tried to drive it away. Suddenly, the vehicle jerked forward, flattening a traffic sign and ploughing into the queue of passengers. At least six people were dragged underneath the bus. About five others were hit and flung several yards by the impact.
The China Motor Bus double-decker ploughed into a huge crowd in North Point, killing four and injuring 46, the Post reported. Those numbers later rose to five dead and 50 injured. Photo: SCMP Archives
'As hundreds of people fled in panic, the bus continued to surge ahead – dragging victims underneath it – until it hit the rear of another double-decker about 10 yards away. Fifty people were injured – four fatally – within seconds. Several people were hurt as the crowd tried to flee. The holiday atmosphere was transformed into one of tragedy as victims lay on the blood-spattered road. Two of the dead, a boy and a young woman, were crushed between the runaway bus and the one into which it crashed. The terminus was strewn with slippers, beach mats and swimming floats. The first ambulance arrived at 9.10am, about 20 minutes after the accident.'
On July 26, the Post ran the headline ''Chaotic' death terminus to get a $400,000 facelift', reporting that the 'reconstruction will mean more space for bus parking. A Government spokesman said yesterday preliminary planning work had been completed and the project is to start in September. He said: 'Careful planning of the working arrangements is necessary to ensure that the bus terminus can remain operational during construction.' Five people were killed and 45 hurt when a
CMB bus ploughed into a crowd at the terminus.'
A friend comforts Fok Mei-po, who broke down and wept at a press conference as one of her sisters was killed and another was put in hospital following the North Point bus accident. Photo: SCMP Archives
On January 24, 1980, the Post reported that 'a
China Motor Bus Co driver was yesterday acquitted of five counts of dangerous driving, causing the death of five people and injury of 50 others, at North Point bus terminal on July 22. Judge Evans at Victoria District Court said it was not certain whether the tragedy was caused by the driver […] or by mechanical defects in the bus. The 'no-go vehicle' note attached to the bus did not suggest that the vehicle should not be driven at all, he added. The defence and the Crown had agreed that to the employees of the bus company the note only meant that the bus should not carry passengers.
'Judge Evans said he himself took the literal meaning of the note and would not drive a vehicle at all if such a note was attached to it. But, he added, it had special meaning to the company's employees.'