Christmas gift: $4.5 million in cash spilled along busy Hong Kong road

Wan Chai, Hongkong -On Christmas Eve afternoon, a cash transport truck with a faulty rear gate spilled an estimated 4.5 million USD (HKD35 million) in cash across Gloucester Road in Hong Kong’s Wanchai district.

Pedestrians were filmed darting into the road to scoop up the cash, bundled together according to denominations. Traffic ground to a halt as a few drivers, such as a taxi driver caught on CCTV, stopped their cars in the middle of the road and got out to pick up stray bills floating through the air.

Hong Kong police showed up 5-10 minutes later to cordon off two lanes of the road. Representatives of the security firm G4S, supposed to be in charge of the cash, were also seen.

It has been estimated that of the USD 4.5 million that fell from the truck, only a fraction of what it was actually carrying, around USD 2.5 million was retrieved.

Meanwhile, Two passengers - a 43-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman - on a taxi which passed by Gloucester Road on Wednesday were arrested in Kowloon City and Tseung Kwan O respectively as police announced at around Friday midnight that a total of HK$5.69 million had been recovered after 30 persons surrendered the banknotes to police.

The man is in the electronics recycling business while the woman is a cosmetologist. Both are said to be friends.