G4S brush off security fears after BMW is crushed in cash van collision

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'It's just a traffic accident': G4S brush off security fears after BMW is crushed in cash van collision

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 24 February, 2015, 4:25pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 25 February, 2015, 9:19am

Staff Reporter

Another blunder: a G4S security van sits upon a crushed BMW following a collision on Hong Kong's Des Voeux Road. Photo: SCMP

A stricken G4S security van was this afternoon under armed guard after a bizarre road accident left it sitting on top of a BMW, in the third major security incident to hit the beleaguered company within weeks.

The crash, on Hong Kong’s Des Voeux Road, left the rear of the security van sitting on the bonnet of the BMW, much to the surprise of onlookers.

The collision comes just a fortnight after an armed G4S guard left a loaded Remington shotgun propped up at a cash machine, and two months after HK$15 million was strewn across the road when the door of a van belonging to the company slid open.

Following the crash armed police arrived and stood guard at the scene, while the red-faced van crew attempted in vain to extract their vehicle from the mangled BMW.

Whoops: the collision happened just after 3pm, trapping both vehicles. Photo: Harry Harrison

A man picks up money spilled by a G4S security van in Wan Chai on December 24. The security van lost some HK5 million contracted to a local bank, about half of which was later returned to police. Photo: SCMP Pictures

A police spokesman said the crash happened at the junction of Gilman Street just after 3pm and that no one was injured.

A G4S spokeswoman later confirmed that the vehicle concerned was on work duties, but refused to elaborate any further.

“We will ask the staff concerned what happened after they are done with their tasks today,” she said, adding that an internal probe will start soon.

“It’s just a traffic accident which has nothing to do with public interest.”

The staff concerned had followed the company’s procedures to report the incident to police, she said, and the company was notified to follow up on any ensuing matters.

The collision is the latest in a string of embarrassing incidents in Hong Kong that will do nothing to enhance its reputation.

On December 24, more than HK$15 million went missing after a cash transport van’s doors slid open, spilling large bundles of money over busy Gloucester Road in Wan Chai, sparking a cash grab frenzy. More than HK$7million remains missing.

Then on February 8 a guard left a fully loaded shotgun by a cash machine in Shek Kip Mei on the Nam Shan Estate at 7am. The alarm was raised and the weapon was later retrieved, although the firm did not reveal how long it had been missing.

G4S’s reputation has suffered globally in recent years, following a string of high-profile mishaps.

A Remington shotgun similar to the one found propped next to cash machine by a G4S security officer.

In November 2014, it was forced to spend almost half a million British pounds (HK$5.9m) changing all the locks at a prison it was contracted to run in Birmingham, England, after blundering guards lost the keys.

Three years earlier in Rochdale, England, G4S staff attached an electronic monitoring tag to the false leg of a one-legged criminal, who simply removed his limb when he wanted to go out.