A local tourist coach driver crashed into two bollards on Rua de Barra yesterday, and crashed into a building near the Casa do Mandarim museum shortly after the first incident, Public Security Police (PSP) said in a statement yesterday.
The statement said that the male suspect surnamed Kong, who is in his fifties, had passed a breathalyser while he was being questioning.
No one was injured in the accident, as the coach was not carrying passengers at the time of the incident, the statement said, adding that the windscreen on the coach was smashed.
The statement said that at around 1 p.m. yesterday the PSP received a report saying that the left-hand side of a tourist coach had hit a building on Rua de Barra near Casa do Mandarim, causing damage to the external wall of Heng Wo Building, Casa do Mandarim and the vehicle itself.
According to the statement, investigating PSP officers discovered that Kong had driven the coach along Rua do Comendador Kou Hó Neng, Travessa do Colégio, Calçada da Paz, Rua do Padre António to Rua de Barra.
During the journey, the coach first knocked down two roadside bollards when turning left at Calçada Da Paz into Rua do Padre António, but it did not stop and continued to drive in the direction of Rua de Barra, until it passed Casa do Mandarim and hit Heng Wo Building, the statement pointed out.
The video of the incident has been circulating on social media.
According to the Public Security Police, it is believed that the cause of the accident was due to the coach being “too large” and failing to manoeuvre around the narrow corner.
The statement said that Kong will be handed over to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further investigation, and will be facing a charge of evading responsibility.
The badly damaged tourist coach is parked in Rua do Almirante Sérgio after crashing into two bollards and a building on Rua de Barra yesterday. – Photo courtesy by TDM
