5 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
When 6 people were killed at a Hong Kong bus stop in the 1960s
'A young European mother of four, and five schoolchildren were killed yesterday when a ten-foot high concrete wall collapsed on a bus queue during heavy rain in Boundary Street. Sixteen people were injured,' reported the South China Morning Post on June 9, 1966.
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'The woman, wife of a British serviceman, and the children, aged between 12 and 16, were crushed under tons of masonry as a 50-foot section of the 250-ft long wall crashed on to the pavement in front of the La Salle Primary School. Minutes after the incident, British troops stationed in the area, passersby, firemen and police rushed to the rescue.
'Wall collapse kills six,' reported the South China Morning Post on June 9, 1966. Photo: SCMP Archives
'A British Army wife who lives nearby said she arrived at the scene about five minutes after the tragedy. 'It was dreadful,' she said. 'There was rubble all over the place and people were screaming. I saw children trapped under blocks of concrete. Some of them were horribly crushed. Troops and police were trying to get them out. Some were rushed off in ambulances. I shall never forget that scene for the rest of my life.'
Troops, passersby, firemen and police dig through rubble on Boundary Street after a concrete wall collapsed on a bus queue during heavy rain in 1966. Photo: SCMP Archives
'Two Scammell recovery vehicles with heavy cranes were provided by 50 Command Workshop,
28 Squadron Gurkha Transport Regiment , to clear the debris. Within about two hours the last of the injured had been taken to hospital.
'The wall collapsed at about 12.30pm. By 5pm the road had been cleared of rubble and was opened to traffic. The British Red Cross answered an emergency call for blood and rushed 117 pints to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Meanwhile, hundreds of anxious parents jammed the switchboards of newspaper offices, police stations and hospitals with inquiries about the names of the dead and injured.
'Army authorities last night refused to reveal the identity of the dead woman until her relatives in England had been notified.'
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