On Tuesday, packs of banknotes amounting to HK$15 million (US$1,932,491) spilled from a security Van on the streets of Hong Kong.
Motorists and pedestrians dashed onto Gloucester Road to collect the stack of bills before armed police arrived at the scene to restore order, reports the South China Morning Post.
The van’s operator, British security service company G4S, said that while an internal probe was underway, the incident seems to have been the result of a door malfunction. The company is expected to be liable for any losses.
According to Hong Kong police, they have recovered HK$3.6 million out of the HK$15 million from 13 people who came forward after the incident.
Witnesses said that while some residents collected the money and handed it over to police upon their arrival, others took the cash and ran:
"I saw a lady with 10 of them, easily. She looked like a very regular Hong Kong lady. She had an armful of bricks of cash - it was a much as she could carry. She just disappeared into the depths of Wan Chai."
"You couldn’t make it up. There were 20 or 30 people picking up cash from the road on Christmas Eve. They looked like schoolkids who knew they were being naughty, but thought, ’this is a once in a lifetime thing’. Everyone had the same look on their face," one witness said.
While no arrests have been made in the recovery of the remaining cash, Police superintendent Wan Siu-hong warned that those withholding money could face prosecution:
"If he or she keeps the money for his own use, he may commit an offence of theft which is a very serious crime under ordinance," he said.
