Worker struck in water main blast clinging to life after brain surgery
An employee of the Water Supplies Department was fighting for his life last night after being struck on the head by a 20kg stopcock that was ejected like a cannonball from a burst water main.
The 57-year-old man, identified only as Hung, was in critical condition in hospital after being injured while inspecting the pipe when it burst, sending a plume of water shooting 15 storeys into the air in Heng Fa Chuen.
Another worker, a 37-year-old woman surnamed Wan, suffered slight injuries to her mouth and was discharged after treatment.
The incident happened about 11am when six workers from the water department went to inspect an underground water pipe on Shing Tai Road after receiving a report of a water leak at 9am.
After they opened a drainage cover near Heng Fa Chuen Estate Block 48, the rusty stopcock was suddenly ejected as the jet of water erupted.
Mr Hung collapsed immediately after being hit and was taken to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, where he had brain surgery.
Director of Water Supplies Chan Chi-chiu said after visiting Mr Hung that it was 'a rare incident'.
'We have already set up a taskforce with the Labour Department to review this incident,' he said.
'We will try to find out the cause of it as soon as possible.
'We carry out regular inspections and maintenance on our water supply network.'
Mr Chan noted that the two workers were responsible only for inspection and not repair work on water pipes.
Workers from the Water Supplies Department had to shut down the water supply to parts of the estate while they worked on fixing the burst main.
Water supplies to the estate began to be resumed gradually from 10.30pm last night.
Tankers were sent to provide water to affected residents and restaurants.
Some restaurants complained that their business was down by at least 20 per cent because of the burst main.
Last month a burst 3-metre water main in Chi Ma Wan on Lantau cut the supply of fresh water to Cheung Chau, the first supply cut since a landslide cut a water main in 1993.
News of the cut on December 23 led to an exodus of tourists and a run by residents on shops for bottled water.
Residents and businesses complained about a lack of information from the Water Supplies Department about how long the supply cut would last.
But emergency repairs had water restored about three hours afterwards.
