Tropical cyclone Noul, which was approaching Vietnam, had hit Hong Kong with heavy rain accompanied by lightning on Thursday (17/9) yesterday, resulting in a 10-meter-tall tree crashing into three vehicles in Pok Fu Lam and injuring two people, Friday (Sept. 18/9/2020).
According to The Standards, a 60-year-old bus passenger identified only as Hung, and a 40-year-old taxi driver, nicknamed Lee, were sent to Queen Mary Hospital for treatment after sustaining minor injuries.
The accident occurred at 7:15 a.m. yesterday, when a tree trunk one meter wide suddenly fell and fell off the slope, landing on Pok Fu Lam Road. As a result of three vehicles, including a bus route 970, minibus route 28, and a taxi, the windshield was shattered, and the minibus was dented in the front and rear.
The 69-year-old minibus driver, Lo, said he was terrified and didn’t know what happened when he heard a loud noise while driving, but he later saw the windshield and rear window shatter. At that time, there were two passengers in the vehicle, but no one was injured.
But unfortunately, the bus route 970 Cyberport hit a fallen tree, because it couldn’t stop in time.
“I took my foot off the gas pedal when I saw a black shadow fall. I was driving slowly, maybe if I drove faster, I might be seriously injured in a fatal accident, because the bus I was driving was full of passengers,” explained the driver, quoted from The Standards.
Passengers in the three vehicles left on foot, including a female Queen Mary Hospital staff member named Kong. He said it took him half an hour to walk to work.
The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) had said on Wednesday (16/9) that the No. 1 alert signal might be applied for Thursday due to tropical storm Noul, but that did not happen.
“[Noul’s] direct threat to Hong Kong is not high. The chances of issuing a tropical cyclone warning signal are relatively low. There will be occasional strong winds over the offshore waters and in the highlands today,” an HKO spokesman explained.
According to an HKO spokesman, the Observatory noted that Noul adopted a western route and circled about 800 kilometers southwest of Hong Kong last night. Noul will move towards central Vietnam as the northeast monsoon affects the south China coast gradually.
It added that Hong Kong could expect windy weather today with gradually increasing rainfall, with thunderstorms and big waves.
“Broadly low pressure is expected to continue to bring rain to the south China coast over the weekend and early next week,” he added.
