In a traffic accident in Iao Hon district last Monday, a 19-year-old secondary school student was hit by a bus on a zebra crossing and he was rushed to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre after his right leg was run over by the vehicle, resulting in an open fracture of the right thigh and a right metatarsal laceration, in response to which Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) Director Kong Chi Meng said on Saturday that the student had meanwhile undergone his first surgery and was in a stable condition, denying rumours that the teen’s leg had been amputated.
Kong said that the victim, an F6 student, remained hospitalised, but was in good emotional and physical condition.
Kong underlined that his bureau was “very concerned” about the student’s situation and remained in close communication with his school, adding that both sides have reached a consensus that after the student has recuperated, they would assist him in readapting to his school routine and provide him with special help for his examinations and further studies, including the provision of remedial lessons and exams and additional counselling by his teachers. He said: “The student’s health condition is most important at this stage”.
According to Kong, in the wake of the incident, the Transport Bureau (DSAT), in conjunction with his bureau and the Public Security Police (PSP), held a meeting to listen to a raft of views from several schools in the northern district on optimising the road and traffic conditions in the area, including the installation of zebra crossings as well as the setting up of additional signage and safety alerts at carpark exits and certain locations near schools. Kong noted that a mechanism has meanwhile been put in place by the Transport Bureau to listen to schools’ views on traffic issues on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, concerning the fact that a “parallel-trading” gang had employed school leavers aged 16-17 to smuggle items such as computer processors with a market value of about 700,000 patacas to the mainland, Kong said that according to the law, compulsory schooling ends at the age of 15. However, he said, his bureau has, in conjunction with nine local counselling organisations, been following up on school leavers who are over the age of compulsory education, with the aim of encouraging them to return to school.
This photo circulating on social media platforms shows firefighters assisting the 19-year-old student run over by a Transmac bus in last Monday’s accident on a zebra crossing in Iao Hon district.
