Fat Duck chefs killed in Hong Kong

Two chefs from Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck have been killed in a car crash in Hong Kong.

The pair and their taxi driver were killed when their vehicle was crushed between two double-decker buses, 56 bus passengers and the occupants of two other cars were also injured.

The chefs were named as Briton Ivan Jorge and Swede Carl Lindgren, both were on a trip to the city with Blumenthal to help cook a Heston Blumenthal Experience dinner at the Mandarin Oriental.

Also on the trip was head chef Jonny Lake and another chef called Mike. The previous evening Lake had tweeted a picture of the three chefs preparing a meal at the hotel.

A spokeswoman for the restaurant said that both men were “great and dear friends”, who were, “uniquely talented young chefs that were loved by everyone who worked with them. They will be deeply and sadly missed.”

A police spokesman said that the bus first hit two cars on the junction of Chan Wan and A King Ngam and then crossed into the oncoming carriageway.

He continued: “It then rammed on to a taxi and a bus which were travelling uphill. The taxi was trapped between the two buses. After the impact, the 53-year-old taxi driver and two foreign male passengers of the taxi, aged 30 and 34, were trapped inside the compartment and were rescued by firemen.

“Sustaining serious injuries, they were rushed to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern hospital in an unconscious state, where they were later certified dead.”

The 57-year-old bus driver was arrested for causing death by dangerous driving and released on police bail, other reports suggest he may have collapsed at the wheel.

A source at the hotel is said to have reported it was “pure chance” that Blumenthal was not in the same cab, taking another just after Jorge and Lindgren had left.

Blumenthal is scheduled to fly to Australia to cook at a “Gourmet Escape” event in the west of the country but organisers expect him to pull out.