Inspector says shaft of lift that fell was covered with dust, powder
Trial following accident that injured seven people told that safety gear was far from clean
Dust and metal particles were seen covering the shaft and machine room of a lift in a North Point building during inspections after seven people were seriously injured when wires snapped and the lift fell, a court heard yesterday.
Senior mechanical inspector Ng Wai-leung told Eastern Court he found thick layers of dust around the safety gear at the bottom of the shaft, about a month after lift No 5 at King's Tower on King's Road plunged from the first to the ground floor in March last year.
The equipment was designed to prevent any accidents involving the lift, he told the court.
"Rouge" - red metal particles resulting from a lack of lubrication between wires and pulleys - was also found on the floor of the machine room, above the top of the shaft, he said.
The inspector also told the court of damage he found when inspecting the site hours after the incident.
Ng was giving evidence against lift-maintenance company Shineford Engineering, two of its directors and one of its engineers, who have pleaded not guilty to alleged violations of lift-safety laws. The company is charged with subcontracting lift works to an unlicensed person and three counts of failure to carry out proper lift maintenance, as are Lo Chi-kin and Mak Wai-kai, the two directors.
The fourth defendant is engineer Chau Kwai-ping, who faces three counts of failure to carry out lift maintenance work properly.