Update | Hiker in narrow escape from lightning and at least 149 reports of people trapped in lifts in Hong Kong downpour

CLP Power is looking into whether a low voltage dip that caused more than a hundred lift stoppages across the city on Sunday was caused by storm damage at its Black Point Power Station in Tuen Mun.

Emergency services received at least 149 cases of people being trapped in elevators between 9.30am and 11.30am on Sunday, mostly in Kowloon and the New Territories, as heavy thunderstorms dumped more 30mm of rain across parts of the city. At least one passenger had to be hospitalised for injuries.

The Observatory raised the amber rainstorm signal at 9.30am before cancelling it two hours later. A thunderstorm warning was issued at 8.15am and extended to 3.30pm. The city was hit by least 319 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes.

CLP, which generates and supplies electricity to Kowloon, New Territories and Lantau, reported a split- second voltage dip in a 400,000-volt transmission network at 9.38am, during the heat of the storm. The dip lasted “less than 0.1 seconds” and did not affect power supply, the utility said.

Voltage dips cause lights to dim or flicker – but can also trigger safety mechanisms of electrical machinery more sensitive to voltage changes such as lifts.

A CLP spokeswoman said there was a simultaneous “component failure” at its Black Point Power Station yesterday morning, and did not rule out a link. She confirmed reports that there were smoke and flames coming from the gas-fired Lung Kwu Tan plant as a result of the failure.

Smoke was still billowing from one of the plant’s units on Sunday night.