Post-mortem results to confirm whether driver had been drinking
The Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday announced follow-up details of Monday’s fatal car crash that killed the driver and three passengers with the other three passengers critically injured, confirming that all seven spent time at a bar in Nape for about four hours before the driver gave the other six a lift, and alcohol was detected in the bloodstreams of the three injured.
PSP spokeswoman Lai In Hong announced the details during yesterday’s regular police press conference.
Lai said that the three injured were still in a critical condition at the time of yesterday afternoon’s press conference.
According to previous PSP statements on Monday, the accident occurred at 6 a.m. that morning when the car was travelling on Avenida da Amizade in the direction of the north of the peninsula. The car crashed into the roadside barrier when travelling past the reservoir, near the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal and the Macau Grand Prix Building, knocking down a section of the barrier and a road sign there.
The five-seater car was overloaded as it had six passengers.
On Monday, the police identified the deceased driver as a 20-year-old woman and the three deceased passengers as a 19-year-old man and two 20-year-old men.
The three critically injured passengers comprise two males and one female.
All seven are local residents, aged between 19 and 21.
During yesterday’s press conference, Lai said the police confirmed that the car knocked down 17 barriers at the scene. When firefighters and paramedics arrived at the scene, Lai said, all seven were unconscious, with five of them in the back seat.
According to Lai, the driver was pronounced dead at hospital at 7:05 a.m., while the three deceased passengers were pronounced dead at 6:33 a.m., 6:56 a.m. and 8:33 p.m.
Lai said that alcohol was detected in the bloodstreams of the three injured passengers. She said that whether the driver was also drunk will need to be confirmed by the findings of a post-mortem examination.
Lai said that while bar records showed that the seven had bought alcoholic drinks, its CCTV footage did not clearly indicate whether the driver had drunk alcohol there.
After scrutinising the police forces’ citywide CCTV camera system and the bar’s CCTV footage, Lai said, the police confirmed that the seven entered the bar together shortly after 2 a.m. on Monday. Shortly before 6 a.m., Lai said, the seven left the bar, when they all got in the car together.
The police said on Monday that the car had been parked in a street parking space on Rua de Bruxelas in Nape, and was driven along Avenida da Amizade in Zape from Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-Sen in Nape via the flyover outside the Fisherman’s Wharf entertainment complex, before it crashed into the roadside barrier outside the reservoir.
Lai also said yesterday that the car was owned by a family member of the deceased driver.
Lai declined to reveal more personal details of the seven, but said that “none of them were employed”.
Lai said that the police have transferred the case to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further investigation, with the submitted pieces of evidence including the footage of the road network CCTV camera system, the bar’s CCTV footage, and the footage of the car’s dashboard camera.
Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Lai In Hong looks on during yesterday’s regular police press conference. – Photo: Armindo Neves
