Initial inspection shows damaged wiring could have been the cause of the child's fatal electric shock
A broken electrical conduit with exposed wires, and the lack of a circuit breaker to prevent electrical leakage, are at the centre of inquiries into the electrocution of a boy in Tai Po on Thursday night.
A comprehensive inspection of electrical conduits and their circuitry in the city's 150 public housing estates would be conducted within the next two weeks to prevent similar accidents, said Deputy Director of Housing Lau Kai-hung yesterday.
Chan Chun-kit, 12, was electrocuted and a 13-year-old, identified only as Li, was injured by an electrical shock as they tried to retrieve a football on the second-floor canopy of Tai Yee House, Tai Yuen Estate.
A child who often plays football at the site of the accident yesterday said that his friends occasionally had to climb the wall to reach a fenced canopy area to retrieve their ball.
Leung Sai-chi, a chief housing manager in the Housing Department, yesterday said he did not rule out the possibility that some person had pulled apart the steel conduit and the wires.
A preliminary inspection by the housing, electrical and mechanical services departments and the Fire Services Department found that the conduit, which runs through the exterior wall of Tai Yee House, had been broken on its second-floor and sixth-floor sections, Mr Leung said.