A passenger on a KMB bus fell and smashed a glass door on Wednesday, making it the second case in as many weeks.
At around 9am on Wednesday morning, a 51-year-old woman surnamed Au was taking the 219X towards Tsim Sha Tsui and was standing in preparation to disembark the bus, when she lost balance and fell into one of the doors, shattering it in the process.
Thankfully, a security railing prevented Au from falling through the door, as 68-year-old Chan Ng-lam did two weeks ago.
A witness said Au was quickly ushered to a seat, where she was comforted by fellow passengers. However, she had reportedly hit the door with the back of her head and one of her palms, and was “very pale”.
Au was taken to hospital to be treated, and has since been discharged.
The witness told Apple Daily that, at the time of the incident, the bus had sped up to make a quickly changing traffic light.
Chan Ng-lam, who sustained heavy injuries after smashing through a KMB door and onto the road, was in a coma for two days following his fall on Feb. 2. Chan has since been told that he would probably need to remain hospitalised for a further three months as he recovers.
Despite one of Chan’s fellow passengers saying that the bus he fell out of was driving at a reasonable speed, Chan told Apple Daily that one of the few things he can remember from the incident is how the vehicle was travelling was “very fast”.
Chan claims that KMB has not contacted him to offer their condolences, nor made any offers of compensation following his fall. Subsequently, he is seeking legal advice on how to proceed. Chan, who has been retired for 10 years, says that all he wants for the Lunar New Year is for people to stay safe.
When asked what factors he thought caused the incident, the retiree expressed concern that KMB was using subpar materials produced in mainland China.
In response to Au’s smashing into the 219X’s door, a spokesperson for the Transport Department said that all 219X doors are made from 4mm-thick tempered glass from Europe, and are in line with European ECE R43 standards. However, the department says it has urged all bus companies using the same type of glass door to perform safety checks, and consider changes that could be made to improve passenger safety.
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