A passenger has died after being ejected from a taxi that collided with a highway maintenance vehicle en route to the Hong Kong airport.
Police said they received a report at 9.46am on Wednesday from a cabby who claimed his New Territories taxi had collided with a road-maintenance shadow vehicle while travelling along the North Lantau Highway towards Hong Kong International Airport.
The taxi slammed into the rear of the shadow vehicle that was carrying a directional arrow sign when it reached a stretch of road opposite Citygate in Tung Chung.
The force said the passenger, in his 40s, was thrown from the taxi on impact. He was taken to North Lantau Hospital by paramedics and later certified dead.
The cabby was also injured and taken to the same hospital for treatment, while the driver of the engineering vehicle was sent to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung.
According to online images, the taxi’s front end was severely damaged and briefly caught fire, while the shadow vehicle had been parked in the fast lane.
The Transport Department announced at 12.29pm that some airport-bound lanes on the North Lantau Highway near Citygate had reopened following the accident.
