‍Fourteen people were injured after a double-decker tram tipped over in Hong Kong in a rare accident on the city's public transport network.

The incident happened around midnight on Des Voeux Road Central near Bank Street, outside the HSBC headquarters in Central on Thursday.

Nine males, including the driver, and five females suffered minor injuries, and some of them were taken to hospital.

It is not clear what caused the accident.

The tram driver, 23, was detained by police for “dangerous driving” but has since been released on bail pending an investigation, according to the South China Morning Post.

Trams, known as "ding-dings" for the sound of their bells, have served the city's main island for more than a century and carry around 200,000 passengers a day.

“Police will conduct an investigation ... including looking into the speed of the vehicle at the time, the tram’s performance and other external factors,” reported South China Morning Post quoting Chiu Shung-hei, an officer from the Hong Kong Island traffic accident investigation team.

A spokesman for operator Hong Kong Tramways said the company was also investigating the incident.

Of the region's around 25,000 road traffic accidents in 2015, only 38 involved trams, said South China Morning Post citing transport department statistics.