A 47-year-old passenger was flung out of the cab and killed after his driver smashed into an illegally parked container truck

A 47-year-old taxi passenger was hurled from a taxi and killed as the taxi he was riding smashed into an illegally parked container truck in Wong Tai Sin.

Mr Jin was riding along Chuk Yuen Road in a cab driven by 77-year-old Mr Pan shortly after midnight when the cab ran nose-first into container truck parked illegally on the carriageway.

Jin was flung from the taxi and suffered serious head injuries in the crash – he was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital unconscious and died at 6:50am.

Police arrested the taxi driver for dangerous driving causing death. He suffered forehead injuries in the smash. Police did not say if they have found the owner of the truck.

The tragedy is the fourth death involving unmarked parked trucks in the last month: on 17 December, a bus driver ploughed into a cleaning truck stopped at the side of the road, killing two crew. And on 5 December, Waheel Ahmed, 47, was killed on his bicycle when a taxi driver drove into an illegally parked container truck in Kowloon City, crushing Ahmed between the two vehicles.

Many container trucks use streets around Wong Tai Sin and Kowloon City as free parking, especially at night. Some even park on highway sliproads, with no hazard lights or warning triangles to indicate their presence.