Hong Kong's carnival dismisses safety fears after riders trapped

Organisers of the AIA Great European Carnival have dismissed safety concerns less than a week after a ride broke down, trapping eight people on board for half an hour.

Ahead of the event's final week in Hong Kong, which coincides with the busy Lunar New Year holiday, it has emerged that government inspectors recently ordered repair work on two rides at the Central waterfront site.

But organisers said they had conducted safety checks on the rides before the carnival opened in December - and sent three operators home.

Robyn Joseph, the carnival's director of stakeholder engagement, said that its own inspectors had taken the action based on its safety standards.

"There were rides right at the very beginning that we went through the safety - we had a look and checked - and decided … 'Sorry guys, its not going to work'," she said.

One ride was turned back because spare parts were not easily available in the event that it broke down. Another two rides did not open because they were too big. A further 10 rides could not be set up on time because of the late handover of the site, the organisers said. The carnival declined to name the rides.

"It's not very nice to have to send somebody home. But [safety is] really important to us," Joseph said.