Hong Kong: Boxes filled with more than $HK15.23 million ($2.4 million) in cash have spilled out of an armoured van onto a major Hong Kong highway, sparking a frenzy as drivers and passers-by tried to get their hands on the notes.

Traffic ground to a halt on Gloucester Road in central Hong Kong as taxi drivers rushed out of their cars to make a grab for the hundreds of banknotes scattered over the busy multi-lane highway on Wednesday.

TV footage showed pedestrians dashing in from the sidewalk to join in the Christmas Eve melee.

Police, some of them armed with shotguns, helmets and bulletproof vests, rushed to the scene to secure the area.