Tse was traveling along a highway on outlying Lantau island with a friend toward Chek Lap Kok airport when the collision with another car took place early Saturday.

The crash left the front of his blue Audi estate in a twisted mess.

Two other people and Tse's friend were also injured and taken to hospital, local Cable TV reported.

A hospital spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

The car crash was the latest incident in Tse's turbulent career, which has been marred in controversy since he exploded onto the Canto-pop scene in 1997.

Earlier this month, Tse and police constable Lau Chi-wai, 28, were charged by the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) of perverting the course of justice by allowing a third man, Shing Kwok-ting, to falsely present himself as the driver of Tse's Ferrari F360 Modena when it crashed on March 23.

Shing, a former chauffeur for the Emperor Entertainment group, pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy and was sentenced to four months imprisonment.

During Shing's trial, the court heard the ex-chauffeur had been asleep at his Kowloon home when Tse called to inform him of the accident in central Hong Kong.

Shing had allegedly advised Tse to abandon the scene and decided to handle the matter himself.

He drove a car out to the accident site and asked Lau, who was one of the police officers inspecting the crash, if he could "stand in" as the Ferrari's driver. Lau allegedly agreed to the request.

Shing had subsequently made a false statement that he was the driver of the black sports car when it lost control and careered into safety barriers, ripping of the vehicle's back.

Son of 1960s movie star Patrick Tse Yin, Nicholas was ranked earlier this year as Hong Kong's top male idol. He is constant gossip column fodder thanks to his bad temper, liaisons with starlets and love of fast cars.

(China Daily July 04, 2002)