Hong Kong bridge worker killed as machine plunges into sea
Project's safety record under spotlight again as machinery operator falls into the sea off Lantau
A construction worker on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge died after the excavator he was operating fell into the sea on Friday night.
The tragedy took the death toll from the Hong Kong section of the controversial project to four since work began in 2011.
Police officers and fire service divers found the unconscious man after the machinery slipped into the water at about 10pm on Friday. But freeing him took some 17 hours and the man, a Hongkonger, was declared dead at the scene yesterday afternoon.
The man had been helping to build an artificial island off Lantau which will hold immigration facilities for the bridge.
"During the operation of a backhoe to the north of the artificial island site … the backhoe and its operator fell into the sea," a Highways Department spokesman said. The department was investigating, he added.
Safety on the bridge has come under the spotlight after a series of accidents.