Bus crash kills 3, injures 22 in Hong Kong

Hong Kong policemen check the site of a traffic accident in Hong Kong, south China, Aug. 28, 2009. A bus carrying airport ground staff overturned on a highway in Hong Kong early Friday morning, killing three and injuring 22 others.(Xinhua/Chen Duo)

A bus carrying airport ground staff overturned on a highway in Hong Kong early Friday morning, killing three and injuring 22 others.

The bus carrying airport ground staff home appeared to have lost control and swerved into a railing in the middle of the road before overturning at around 4 a.m. local time. Some of the passengers were believed to be napping after working night shifts, police said.

Some of the passengers were trapped under the bus after the fatal crash.

Three of the passengers were killed and 22 others were injured, police said. A senior official of the nearby Princess Margaret Hospital said that 20 of the injured passengers were sent to a hospital. Two were still in the intensive care unit, three were instable conditions and the other 15 had been discharged.

Pemela Tan Kam Mi-wah, director of Hong Kong Home Affairs, answers questions at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong, south China, Aug. 28, 2009. A bus carrying airport ground staff overturned on a highway in Hong Kong early Friday morning, killing three and injuring 22 others.(Xinhua/Chen Duo)

Passengers who had witnessed the fatal crash said that the bus was swerving before overturning on the highway.

Police said the causes of the accident were to be identified, adding that further investigations such as those into the condition of the bus and its components, the road condition and the health condition of the driver will be conducted.

Lam Po--sang, director of Hong Kong airport ground services, answers questions at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong, south China, Aug. 28, 2009. A bus carrying airport ground staff overturned on a highway in Hong Kong early Friday morning, killing three and injuring 22 others.(Xinhua/Chen Duo)

The driver, 46, was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, although breath tests showed that he had drunk no alcohol shortly before the crash.

The driver was very saddened by the fatal crash and police said they would question him further once he was calm.