The scene of the construction truck crash on Borrett Road – construction truck operations were suspended

A heavy construction vehicle heading to the new ESF Borrett Road site killed a motorbike rider on Borrett Road yesterday morning (17 September) when the two vehicles reportedly collided.

According to police, both the driver of the construction truck, Mr Chan, 69, and the motorbike rider, Mr Leung, 50, were headed up the steep hill of Borrett Road at around 9.20am when the crash happened near the junction with Bowen Road.

But a school security guard who was at the scene gives a different version of events: he says the rider was travelling down the hill and the construction truck was going up. “It was raining, the road was slippery, maybe the motorbike lost control,” he says.

Firemen rushed to crash site to rescue Leung, who was trapped under the heavy truck. Leung was rushed to Ruttonjee hospital unconscious, and declared dead at 10.57am.

Police arrested Chan for dangerous driving causing death – he has since been released on bail.

Residents and parents have complained about the ESF construction site on Borrett Road, which sees a steady stream of heavy construction vehicles charging up and down the road all day long

Borrett Road is a narrow, steep and winding road leading to the some residential blocks, offices and schools, including the vast new HK$1.2 billion ESF school construction site. On a normal day, trains of construction trucks can be seen lined up on nearby Kennedy Road, taking turns to haul heavy materials and demolition debris to and from the site  – but the day after the accident, all truck operations were suspended and a new road safety team was seen near the accident site.

“It’s our first time here,” the road safety foreman told Transit Jam, giving no further details.

The government is subsidising the ESF project to the tune of HK$536.3 billion, on condition that the developer “minimise possible nuisance caused during the development works”. However, residents, workers and parents of nearby schools complain that the building site is dirty, has removed an essential minibus stop and has added danger to the roads with the steady stream of heavy construction trucks. “They drive with the cigarette in one hand and the phone in the other,” says one parent.

Construction firm Build King had no comment.

Leung’s death is the third motorbike death in the last month. A rider was killed after hitting a roadworks vehicle near the airport earlier this month while in August, a scooter rider was killed on a residential street in Sha Tin, apparently with no other vehicle involved.

Hong Kong’s road traffic has claimed 75 lives and caused 1,057 serious injuries in the first eight months of 2020, according to police figures.