Nineteen people died and 66 others were injured on Saturday when a KMB double-decker travelling from Sha Tin racecourse towards Tai Po suddenly swerved out of control and flipped on its side while making a turn near Tai Po Mei.

Six people were still in hospital in critical condition on Monday evening.

Xi urged city officials to do their best in their follow-up efforts for those affected.

The government will fly the Hong Kong and national flags at half mast at its headquarters in Admiralty on Tuesday, while the city’s legislature and Lam’s cabinet were expected to observe a minute’s silence to mourn the dead.

Lam said city officials would refrain from attending any major celebratory events in the “next one or two weeks”.

“I have taken into account their suggestions, their views, and the general sentiment in the community, and come to the decision that we should cancel this year’s fireworks.”

A hallmark of the city’s calendar, the display had been scheduled to run from 8pm on Saturday, the second day of the Lunar New Year holiday, and last for 23 minutes.

Organisers had planned to launch 29,000 pyrotechnic shells from barges in Victoria Harbour, featuring a series of Lunar New Year-themed designs, such as golden ingots, peach blossoms and a dog – the next lunar year is the Year of the Dog.

The display would have been held on the seventh day after the tragedy, when according to Chinese tradition, the spirit of a dead person returns home for a final farewell to loved ones.

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Lam said the event sponsor, Chevalier International Holdings, had been informed, and any money saved as a result of the cancellation would go to the families of the crash victims. 

The fireworks display was expected to cost the sponsor HK$8.8 million to stage. Chevalier International has pledged to donate no less than HK$1 million to help the victims and their families.

Since Sunday about HK$42.5 million has been raised by a number charities, including one of KMB’s charitable funds, to help the victims. The money will be handled by the Social Welfare Department and doled out to the 84 families in need. 

Lam also announced on Monday that Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li had backed the setting up of an independent committee, led by a judge, to investigate the accident. 

“Our priority is to assign a judge to lead the committee, but this will take some time,” Lam said. 

“Preparation work is already under way – this includes drafting the committee’s terms of reference, which will be expanded to include issues the public is concerned with.”

Representatives of KMB attended a special meeting of Tai Po District Council on Monday, along with councillors and officials from different government departments.

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Before the meeting, attendees stood in silence for about a minute in remembrance of the victims. The KMB representatives bowed twice and apologised to all the families.

KMB managing director Roger Lee Chak-cheong said an investigation committee formed by the company had held its first meeting and would submit a report within a month.

But bus drivers’ unions continued to lash out at company bosses for allegedly exploiting staff without providing professional training for those who needed to drive new routes.

“The KMB senior management can’t evade their responsibility for this incident,” said Lai Siu-chung, deputy director of the Motor Transport Workers General Union’s KMB branch. Lai said the firm had also neglected quality control for part-time staff.

“Since KMB overhauled its senior management, the company has launched a lot of [cost-cutting] measures … It sacked a lot of middle to lower ranked management as well as the supporting manpower for drivers.

“That’s why the drivers hold a lot of grievances and have a poor sense of belonging to the company.”

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But KMB insisted its drivers were adequately trained.

“KMB provides training for all new bus captains to familiarise them with the routes assigned. They have to undergo at least 16 hours of training on a route” with a qualified instructor, the company said.

KMB added that it had a regular mechanism to monitor the physical condition, behaviour and performance of all drivers.