Hong Kong police arrest business owner after sign falls injuring three people in Yau Ma Tei
Three men in hospital after signs falls three metres from building on to street
The owner of a game centre in Yau Ma Tei was arrested on Monday after the sign to her shop fell from the building, sending three to men to hospital.
Police were alerted at about 1pm after the sign – measuring three metres wide and half a metre tall – fell about three metres from the Pak Tat Mansion on Nanking Street and hit three men ages 36, 31 and 26.
The 36-year-old man was injured on his head and was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The other two men, one was injured on his back and the other sustained injuries to his neck and hands, were sent to Kwong Wah Hospital, police said.
The 36-year-old man was in serious condition while the other two men were in stable condition, a Hospital Authority spokesman said.
The shopkeeper, a woman, was arrested for “allowing objects to fall from heights”, police said.
An owner of a restaurant at Nanking Street told RTHK that the incident was the first of its kind since he opened his business more than a decade ago.
The restaurant owner questioned whether the sign had been properly hung.
Buildings Department officials arrived at the site at 1.30pm to investigate the incident. The department said it would make sure the building was repaired. The officials also examined another sign for the game centre, one that faces Parkes Street, and found no obvious danger.
Last year, the department issued more than 1,600 removal orders and notices for dangerous signs while 33 people were prosecuted for neglecting the orders.
