Surgeons successfully re-attach student's foot severed by ice machine
Surgeons last night re-attached a 17-year-old student's foot, which was severed in an ice-making machine.
Cheung Chung-leung, who was on his first day of a summer holiday job in a Kwai Chung factory, was in serious condition in Princess Margaret Hospital.
Doctors said the operation was successful.
The accident happened when the Form Five student apparently tried to free ice jamming a hole in a conveyor at the Seapower Resources Cold Storage and Warehousing in the Hoi Fai Iron Factory, Kwai Hei Street.
'His left leg went into the hole and his left foot was amputated by the metal conveyer belt as he apparently kicked at the ice,' police said.
Chung-leung, who is waiting for his Certificate of Education Examination results, lives with his mother and grandmother in Tai Wo Hau Estate, Ham Tin. A relative said his father died of cancer several years ago.
A Labour Department spokeswoman said occupational safety officers would investigate the cause of the accident and whether the boy should have been allowed to operate the machine.
Laws prohibit untrained youths from working on construction sites. Anyone under 18 is not allowed to operate mechanical lifting equipment.
