HONG KONG—An armored van spilled nearly US$2 million in cash onto the westbound lane of one of Hong Kong’s busiest thoroughfares on Christmas Eve, bringing traffic to a halt as people jumped out of their cars and scrambled to scoop up money.

Photos posted on local news outlets showed taxi drivers and passengers crouching in the middle of Gloucester Road in Wan Chai on Wednesday afternoon as they tried to grab some of the scattered 500 Hong Kong dollar notes, which are worth about US$65 apiece.

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