67-year-old Ms Kwok was crossing Argyle Street when a truck driver fatally ran her over

Police have arrested a 39-year-old truck driver after he ran over and killed a 67-year-old woman on a busy pedestrian crossing in Mong Kok.

Driver Mr Cheung was driving a container truck west on Argyle Street just before 5pm when he struck Ms Kwok who was crossing the road at the Reclamation Street junction. Kwok’s legs were crushed by the truck and she was rushed, unconscious, to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she died at 5:57pm.

Police say the driver was arrested for dangerous driving causing death. They are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Argyle Street has five traffic lanes at the point of the crash, with pedestrian crossing times too short for many elderly. Pedestrianisation of the district has been abandoned and even reversed in the last few years, with four at-grade crossings just a hundred metres away shut down last year in favour of bridges, and the pedestrianisation scheme of nearby Sai Yeung Choi Street South cancelled in 2018. That street is now plagued with illegal car parking on both sides, with only one lane free for traffic flow.

70% of pedestrian fatalities in 2021 occurred while the victim was crossing a road. Among them, 100% were over 50 and 85% were 60 or older.