Police are investigating the death of a 46-year-old customs officer whose vehicle hurtled off the Shenzhen Bay Bridge on his way to work at the checkpoint on Monday night. The vehicle was fished out around noon yesterday.
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It was the most serious accident on the 5.5-kilometer bridge since it opened to traffic in 2007.
Commissioner of Customs and Excise Louise Ho Pui-shan said the department is saddened by the death of the officer, surnamed Wong. She added: "The department has been in touch with the family of the deceased officer and will make every effort to help them."
Ho also visited Wong's family at Tin Shui Wai Hospital, where the driver was rushed and later pronounced dead.
Wong joined the department in 1999 and was a senior officer of the cargo examination unit at the Shenzhen Bay control point. He was driving along the lane toward Shenzhen Bay in a white Toyota when the accident occurred at around 9.18pm on Monday.
A driver reported seeing the car crash into a roadside electronic information board and bounce over the barriers.
A Fire Services Department diving team took over two hours to locate the vehicle due to low visibility. It was found in waters two meters deep.
Rescuers broke the sunroof to extract the driver, who was unresponsive, had no pulse and had several obvious injuries.
Wong was pronounced dead at 1.30am after being rushed to hospital.
Chief inspector Chui Wing-luen of the police's New Territories North traffic unit said the force will investigate several factors, including the driver's mental state, the car's speed and its mechanical state.
"The road surface was dry and there were no maintenance works under way at the time of the accident," Chui said.
He said skid marks were found on the fast-speed lane of the bridge and the railings also showed signs of being hit.
Chui said there were no CCTV cameras installed at the location and called on motorists to contact police if they had any additional information.
The wreckage was brought to the police's vehicle examination center in Tai Lam Chung.
The car was covered in mud, with the front extensively damaged and the roof torn open.
The right part of the vehicle was severely deformed and two tires were missing. All the airbags in the car had deployed.
The victim's wife was seen at Kwai Chung Public Mortuary to identify his remains yesterday.
Hong Kong, China Automobile Association honorary life president Ringo Lee Yiu-pui said it is difficult for a vehicle to just jump over a four-foot high barrier on the bridge.
"To make that happen, the vehicle must have hit something to lift its four wheels off the ground - with something acting as a springboard to launch it over the barrier," Lee said.
