(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-02 09:06

HONG KONG: A shuttle bus carrying 65 passengers flipped over here Thursday morning, killing 18 and injuring 44 others, Hong Kong police and the government information department said.

The accident, one of Hong Kong's worst road tragedies in recent years, occurred at about 9 am local time when the bus overturned at Nam Pin Wai Road in Sai Kung.

Firefighters carry an injured passenger out from the wreckage of a bus after an accident in Hong Kong May 1, 2008. [Agencies]

Donald Tsang, chief executive of Hong Kong special administrative region, visited the injured in hospital and expressed his condolences.

Tsang said the HKSAR government would do whatever was necessary to help the victims and their families.

"Like every citizen in Hong Kong, my heart was very heavy," Tsang told reporters after the hospital visit.

By noon, firefighters had pulled all the passengers from the wreckage. They had to smash the windows of the bus to help some people who had been trapped inside.

The dead passengers were all female, police spokesman Ho Cha-kan, said.

He said the bus had only 55 seats, but was loaded with 65 people when the accident happened.

Ho said the passengers were local members of a religious group and were on their way to worship in Sai Kung.

At least 10 ambulances were on hand, and the government mobilized one helicopter to assist with the rescue efforts.

Witnesses and some passengers said the bus was traveling at speed when the accident occurred. The exact cause remains unknown.

Xinhua