HONG KONG: A three-year-old has died in hospital after she, her six-year-old sister and their 66-year-old grandfather were hit by a tram, with the younger child and man getting trapped beneath the vehicle in Western district of Hong Kong Island on Thursday (Aug 15).
Emergency services were called after the trio were knocked down outside a public swimming pool on Praya, Kennedy Town near the junction with Sai Cheung Street at around 10.44am.
A source familiar with the case said the girls, their grandfather and the family’s domestic helper, 34, were trying to cross the road at the time of the incident.
“The three-year-old girl and her grandfather were trapped underneath the tram and had to be freed by emergency personnel,” the insider said.
A police spokesman said the three-year-old girl was unconscious as she was being rescued.
“The man suffered serious head injuries but remained conscious, while the elder girl was bleeding from her head,” he added.
The family and their helper were taken to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam, where the three-year-old was pronounced dead.
The spokesman did not indicate whether the helper had also been struck by the tram, but said she had complained of pain in her waist.
Officers from the Hong Kong Island traffic unit are investigating the cause of the accident.
In July last year, a 41-year-old man died after being knocked down by a tram and getting trapped underneath it on Des Voeux Road Central in Sheung Wan. Police arrested the tram driver, a 35-year-old man, on suspicion of dangerous driving causing death.
According to the Transport Department, 23 trams were involved in road traffic accidents in the first five months of this year.
The number of traffic accidents involving trams each year dropped from 61 in 2021 to 39 in 2022, then rose to 47 in 2023. - South China Morning Post
