HONG KONG: Two men were killed and at least six others injured after a Hong Kong tower crane collapsed at a construction site on Wednesday, authorities said.
A man has been certified dead at the site in the east Kowloon and the other man died on the way to hospital, police told AFP.
Six injured construction workers were taken to hospital, while another man was still trapped under debris waiting to be rescued, police said.
An AFP reporter at the scene saw more than a dozen rescuers from the city’s urban search and rescue team surrounding the collapsed crane, which had collapsed onto several cargo containers.
The accident happened shortly after 10:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) when the crane fell on a container, which then overturned on construction workers, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Authorities say they are still investigating the cause of the crash.
Lawmaker Kwok Wai-keung, who represents Hong Kong’s labor sector, said crane collapses are rare in the city and called the accident “a major blow” to the industry.
Kwok urged authorities to investigate whether the collapse was due to a design flaw or human error, and to publish their findings as soon as possible.
The crash scene was part of a massive construction site for a subsidized social housing project which aimed to create 19,000 homes, the SCMP reported.
A man has been certified dead at the site in the east Kowloon and the other man died on the way to hospital, police told AFP.
Six injured construction workers were taken to hospital, while another man was still trapped under debris waiting to be rescued, police said.
An AFP reporter at the scene saw more than a dozen rescuers from the city’s urban search and rescue team surrounding the collapsed crane, which had collapsed onto several cargo containers.
The accident happened shortly after 10:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) when the crane fell on a container, which then overturned on construction workers, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Authorities say they are still investigating the cause of the crash.
Lawmaker Kwok Wai-keung, who represents Hong Kong’s labor sector, said crane collapses are rare in the city and called the accident “a major blow” to the industry.
Kwok urged authorities to investigate whether the collapse was due to a design flaw or human error, and to publish their findings as soon as possible.
The crash scene was part of a massive construction site for a subsidized social housing project which aimed to create 19,000 homes, the SCMP reported.
