HONG KONG - At least seven people, including a six-year-old child, were injured after a taxi ploughed into a crowd after driving onto a pavement in Causeway Bay on Saturday (Nov 12).

The incident occurred at about 10.30am outside the Sogo department store which was having its mid-year sale, reported the South China Morning Post. The area was crowded as pedestrians waited to cross the road and customers went in and out of the store.

At least seven people - the youngest being six years old and the oldest 89- were injured in the accident.

The driver, surnamed Lau, was arrested for dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm. The 71-year-old passed the breathalyser test, said SCMP.

Lau's vehicle was travelling along Hennessy Road when it seemed to lose control before mounting the pavement. Surveillance video footage of the incident showed the taxi hitting some people to the ground and scattering panicked crowds before halting.

Most shockingly, the first thing the driver did after stepping out of his taxi was to check the side of his car for damage before approaching one of the injured people, said the report.

"Someone ran onto the road suddenly and I could not stop my car immediately," Lau told Cable TV. He added that he had passengers in his car when the incident happened.

Witnesses said they heard a loud bang before they saw the taxi mount the pavement.

Four of the injured pedestrians were conveyed conscious to the hospital for treatment.

As of Saturday afternoon, three patients were discharged from the hospital and one was in a stable condition. The other three injured people sought treatment themselves.

Mechanical expert and traffic accident consultant Lo Kok Keung, who viewed the CCTV footage, told SCMP the speed of the taxi was estimated to be around 42kmh at the moment it hit the crowd. He added: "If the car had not come to a stop and continued on at this speed, more people would have been severely injured."