A 20-year-old non-resident worker from Vietnam died yesterday afternoon after being hit by a seven-seater people carrier on the Macau-Taipa Friendship Bridge when he was pushing his employer’s lorry which had broken down on the bridge, the Public Security Police (PSP) and the Fire Services Bureau (CB) said.
It was the second traffic accident on the bridge in as many days. On Friday, two coaches collided on the bridge, resulting in a huge blaze but no serious injuries.
The lorry had two passengers, both workers from Vietnam who were pushing the vehicle together when the fatal accident happened. While the 20-year-old was seriously injured and died later, the other, 25, was slightly injured. A passenger in the people carrier, a 52-year-old, mainlander, also sustained slight injuries.
Both drivers are local residents who both passed breathalyser tests. Neither was injured.
Lao Sio Hap, acting chief of the PSP Traffic Department, and Chan Chi Man, who heads the Taipa fire station, briefed reporters about the fatal crash at the scene.
The crash happened at around 12:30 p.m. yesterday in the direction from Taipa to the peninsula. As the lorry being driven up the slope in the right-hand lane broke down, the two Vietnamese got out of the vehicle and pushed it, Lao said.
Shortly afterwards, the people carrier crashed into the back of the lorry as the people carrier driver failed to brake in time, hitting the two workers, Lao said.
The police identified the people carrier driver as a 47-year-old surnamed Sio and the lorry driver as a 55-year-old surnamed Choi.
The police have launched an investigation into the exact cause of the fatal crash.
The Fire Services Bureau (CB) deployed five emergency vehicles and 18 firefighters and paramedics to the scene, according to Chan, who said that the two drivers left their vehicles after the collision.
Paramedics were unable to detect the 20-year-old Vietnamese’s heartbeat, and he was not breathing. The victim, who suffered multiple fractures, was rushed to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre for emergency treatment where he was pronounced dead after emergency treatment failed, Chan said.
The two who had minor injuries were also taken to the public hospital for treatment, according to Chan, who said that the other Vietnamese lorry passenger became emotional after the accident.
The lorry is a vehicle of Oriental Professional Laundry, a commercial laundry owned by East Start Entertainment Group working for venues such as hotels, saunas and beauty salons. The people carrier is owned by casino junket operator Tak Chun Group.
The Friendship Bridge, the second Macau-Taipa link, has been “a black spot” for numerous fatal traffic accidents since it opened in 1994, mostly involving scooter riders and motorcyclists. While the government does not ban scooters and motorcycles from travelling on the bridge, scooter riders and motorcyclists are officially advised to use San Van Bridge, which has a motorcycle-only lane in each direction.
The four-lane, 4.7-kilometre-long Friendship Bridge, the construction of which started in 1990, is the longest of the city’s three Macau-Taipa bridges.
The other Macau-Taipa bridge, the Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge (commonly known as the “Old Bridge”) has been only open to public transport vehicles – buses and taxis – and emergency vehicles since 2007.
The shoe of the fatality lies at the scene of yesterday’s traffic accident on Friendship Bridge.
A policeman works at the fatal traffic accident scene on Friendship Bridge yesterday. Photos: Iong Tat Choi
