Police blocked the scene where the man was found mortally injured in Sham Shui Po last night.  Inset: the truck and driver responsible were found 5 km away in Kai Tak (main photo: Liang Ming-kang, Ming Pao)

A truck driver ran down a man on a pedestrian crossing in Sham Shui Po last night, fleeing the scene in his heavy dump truck and leaving the man fatally wounded on the street.

Police say an informant reported seeing a man laying on the crossing at the junction of Pei Ho Street and Hai Tan Street at 7.45pm last night (18 February). When police investigated, they found Mr Wong, 45, bloody and unconscious, crushed by a heavy vehicle, his jacket and a pool of blood yards away. Emergency crews rushed him to Caritas Medical Centre where he died at 8.30pm.

Police located the truck and the driver, Mr Liu, 38, near Kai Tak, around 5 km away, and arrested him for dangerous driving causing death.

Local newspaper reports claim the victim was lying in the road before the crash, possibly after having fainted. But police say the information available does not confirm such a story and they are appealing for witnesses. Anyone with information should call the investigating officers on 3661 9023 or 3661 9000.

The crash happened in the government’s Sham Shui Po Pilot “Walkable Urban Area”, the second fatal pedestrian crash in the zone in recent months. In 2017, the government engaged consultants Mott MacDonald in a HK$13.9 million contract to suggest improvements to the area. Years later, many of the pilot zones remain dangerous for pedestrians, with widespread illegal parking on junctions and crossings that often blocks visibility of walkers and drivers.