Work on a HK$250 million extension at the King George V School in Kowloon has been halted after a steel pole fell 15 metres and speared a British teacher's BMW.
The three-metre pole crashed through a bamboo screen and pierced the windscreen and dashboard of the parked car at the English Schools Foundation (ESF) secondary school at 3.45pm on Monday.
The owner of the car, the head of physical education Charles Riding, declined to comment.
He is believed to have been inside the school at the time of the incident. Classes had finished but some pupils were still on site doing after-school activities.
Work on a new science block and performing arts centre, which began last July and is due to be completed next May, was suspended and an investigation launched into the incident, ESF spokeswoman Susanna Chiu said.
Extraordinary pictures of the damage to the car, caused by workmen accidentally dropping the pole, have circulated on Facebook and been shared among colleagues and the school's 1,500 pupils.
A staff member who asked not to be named said: 'It could have been disastrous and potentially fatal if a pupil or teacher had been in the area at the time. It happened shortly before the teacher would have gotten into his car to go home so he was incredibly lucky.