Hong Kong officials take week to confirm 4 deaths in car accident across border, as legislator calls for more timely updates
- Immigration authorities reveal four Hong Kong residents were killed in early April in car accident in mainland China’s Fujian province
- Lawmaker Kingsley Wong Kwok urges officials to make timely announcements to serve as ‘warning’ for Hongkongers driving across border
Hong Kong immigration officials have taken more than a week to confirm the deaths of four residents in a car accident in mainland China’s Fujian province, with a lawmaker calling on officials to provide more timely updates on such incidents across the border.
The accident in Fuzhou city in early April led to the deaths of four passengers, while the driver, who is also a Hong Kong resident, suffered minor injuries, the Immigration Department told the Post early on Thursday, hours after local media reported the crash.
The department said the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong was notified by authorities in Fuzhou earlier this month and had immediately dispatched staff to the area to provide appropriate assistance and contact the victims’ relatives.
It added that the driver was currently under investigation by mainland authorities, but stopped short of revealing when the accident occurred or further details on the victims.
Lawmaker Kingsley Wong Kwok, of the Federation of Trade Unions, said officials need to announce such information much quicker since many city residents were driving across the border for holidays.
“Many Hongkongers are taking self-driving holiday trips to the north, authorities should make announcements of car accidents timely so it can serve as a warning for them,” he told a radio programme on Thursday.
