Driver Mr Kwok, 64, drove around 100 metres with an elderly woman trapped underneath this dump truck (photo: HK01)

Police have arrested a dump truck driver after he fatally ran over and dragged a 71-year-old woman who was crossing a road.

The tragedy unfolded outside the minibus station at the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) headquarters in Sha Tin. Witnesses say the woman, Ms Kwok, was walking on Pai Tau Street when she was struck by the heavy truck, driven by Mr Law, 64.

Passersby tried to alert the driver to the crash but witnesses say he kept driving until he reached the main road headed across the Shing Mun River. Several people then managed to catch up to the driver and alert him to the incident, finally stopping the truck around 100 metres from where he ran the woman over.

Kwok was declared dead at Prince of Wales Hospital shortly afterwards, with police arresting the driver for dangerous driving causing death.

The street where Ms Kwok was initially hit. Transport Department recently declared the street a restricted zone to crack down on pedestrian dangers such as illegal parking, to no avail

Last month, Commissioner for Transport Rosanna Law declared the portion of street where the woman was struck as a restricted zone, in an effort to clamp down on the incessant illegal parking by vans and trucks serving the LCSD HQ and nearby construction sites. Illegal parking outside the minibus station is considered a safety hazard for pedestrians, blocking lines of sight of both drivers and pedestrians.

And questions will yet again be raised about the use of heavy trucks on minor urban roads. Heavy construction dump trucks caused a spate of pedestrian deaths and injuries last year, with two serious crashes in one day last August. Trucks in Hong Kong are not required to carry any radar or pedestrian alert technology which would help prevent such dangers.