The 68-year-old victim was crossing the road from the bus stops when he was struck and killed by a New Territories taxi

A pedestrian was killed while crossing a road in Tuen Mun in the early hours of this morning

The 68-year-old man was crossing Tuen Mun Heung Sze Wui Road just after 5am when he was struck by a taxi driver driving a New Territories taxi south.

Suffering severe injuries, the victim was rushed to Tuen Mun Hospital and died shortly afterwards.

A bloody mask and the victim’s shoes were left at the scene.

Police did not yet confirm the age, blood alcohol or arrest status of the taxi driver.

Local media blamed the victim for not using a pedestrian bridge to cross the road. But the nearest bridge is around a 300-metre detour from the crash location and requires going through Trend Plaza mall. On the other side of the road, construction debris and pedestrian detours have made bridge and lift access difficult.

The issue of footbridges requiring mall access was raised by lawmaker Dominic Lee in LegCo a few weeks ago, with many Tai Wai residents complaining about a similar problem after the demolition of part of the famed “Octopus” footbridge.

Residents there must now walk through an MTR mall to access the bridge, with escalators and lifts reportedly unable to handle the high pedestrian flow.

Transport Secretary Lam Sai-hung rebuffed the accusations in LegCo, claiming observations by Transport Department and traffic consultants proved the lifts and escalators had sufficient capacity.