Hong Kong (CNN) -- Last minute shoppers in Hong Kong were treated to a Christmas Eve cash grab Wednesday when nearly $2 million spilled from a money transport van into the street.
Passing motorists and pedestrians were caught on camera helping themselves to banknotes scattered in Gloucester Road in the city's Wan Chai district at around lunchtime, before police arrived to secure the loot and disperse the opportunists.
Three cash boxes had fallen from the van, resulting in the loss of an estimated 15.23 million Hong Kong dollars (nearly $2 million U.S.), a police said Thursday, warning that anyone who took the notes faced theft charges.
What happened next is surprising.
By Thursday afternoon, police said, nearly half a million of the missing banknotes -- HKD $3.6 million, or $464,000 -- had been returned to authorities.
Thirteen people -- 10 men and three women -- had voluntarily handed over the money. They would likely face no charges, police said.
The security company that operates the cash transport van, G4S, told CNN it had no comment on the incident. Local media reported that a faulty van door was blamed for the spill.
Passing motorists and pedestrians were caught on camera helping themselves to banknotes scattered in Gloucester Road in the city's Wan Chai district at around lunchtime, before police arrived to secure the loot and disperse the opportunists.
Three cash boxes had fallen from the van, resulting in the loss of an estimated 15.23 million Hong Kong dollars (nearly $2 million U.S.), a police said Thursday, warning that anyone who took the notes faced theft charges.
What happened next is surprising.
By Thursday afternoon, police said, nearly half a million of the missing banknotes -- HKD $3.6 million, or $464,000 -- had been returned to authorities.
Thirteen people -- 10 men and three women -- had voluntarily handed over the money. They would likely face no charges, police said.
The security company that operates the cash transport van, G4S, told CNN it had no comment on the incident. Local media reported that a faulty van door was blamed for the spill.
A passing taxi driver ditched his red and white cab in order to grab some of the bounty while one lady made off with ten "bricks" of cash, a witness said.
"She looked like a very regular Hong Kong lady. She had an armful of bricks of cash – it was as much as she could carry," the witness told theSouth China Morning Post, adding that the woman had then "disappeared" into the Wan Chai neighbourhood.
A photograph showed one bundle of notes left on the road was marked HK$500,000 (£41,500).
"You couldn't make it up," the witness was quoted as saying. "There were 20 or 30 people picking up cash from the road on Christmas Eve. They looked like school kids who knew they were being naughty, but thought: 'This is a once in a lifetime thing.' Everyone had the same look on their face."
Police said they had been called to the scene at just before 2pm and that armed officers were deployed to cordon of the area. Employees from G4S, the British security firm, were also seen, the South China Morning Post said.
CNN & The Telegraph
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