Close call as tree branch hits Hong Kong double-decker bus, smashing window

Passengers on a Hong Kong bus have escaped unharmed after a tree branch struck the upper deck, shattering a side window.

Police said they received a report at about 8am on Monday that a KMB route 277E bus hit an overhanging tree while travelling in the left lane of Ching Hiu Road in Sheung Shui, outside the Glorious Peak residential development.

No injuries were reported.

Images circulating online showed a large hole where a side window had shattered, with the adjacent pane cracked but still in place. The seat and floor near the impact were covered in shards of tempered glass.

“I was napping on the bus and suddenly heard a huge bang. A roadside tree was leaning badly and the bus hit it directly. It scared the life out of me – I was covered in shattered glass … luckily I was wearing long pants,” a passenger said in a social media post.

“I often hear branches brushing the top of the bus, but I’m not sure whether it was the same tree.”