Crane operator killed as 500kg hook falls onto cabin at Hong Kong-Macau bridge site

A 500kg hook broke free from a crane arm and fell into the driving cabin, killing its elderly operator at a Tuen Mun site for the bridge linking Hong Kong with Zhuhai and Macau.

Wu Ka-fai, 62, was operating the crane inside the cabin at the Lung Mun Road site at the time the incident happened at about 8.15am on Tuesday.

“A cable that linked to the hook snapped. The hook tumbled down along with the cable and struck the driving cabin and the worker,” a police spokeswoman said.

She said Wu was declared dead at the scene by paramedics.

The spokeswoman said initial investigations found nothing suspicious and an autopsy would be carried out to establish the cause of death.

The Labour Department said its officers had been sent to the site to initiate a probe into the cause of the accident.