Dash for Cash: $2 Million Spills onto Hong Kong Road

VOA News
25 December 2014 (2:05AM)

Traffic came to a halt in downtown Hong Kong Wednesday when bundles of money flew out of a security van. Drivers and passersby were not shy about taking advantage of the Christmas Eve windfall.

Local TV news footage showed people abandoning their cars and scrambling to pick up bills strewn across a busy eight-lane roadway. The cash blizzard littered the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong around lunchtime.

Armed police arrived on the scene and shut down Gloucester Road but not before some $2 million went missing.

People were seen walking away with bundles of $500 Hong Kong notes. A HK$500 note is equivalent to about US$65.

The global security company responsible for transporting the cash said an internal investigation is underway on how the money fell out of the van.

On Thursday, local media reported about $460,000 had been returned to police.