Hotel cleaner arrested after pedestrian killed by falling window on busy Hong Kong street
- Victim from mainland China had just arrived in city with her boyfriend and was walking outside The Mira Hong Kong when she was hit
- Police looking into whether work procedures require opening of window
A Hong Kong cleaner was arrested on Monday after a 24-year-old mainland Chinese woman was killed by a falling window from a 16th floor hotel room in the city’s busy shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui.
A police source said officers were investigating whether the woman, 39, had opened the window to ventilate the room because of the smell of cigarette smoke. He said the window was designed with two layers and a special key was needed to unlock both.
The source said the victim arrived in the city from Foshan, Guangdong province, with her boyfriend and several friends. She was walking along Nathan Road when she was struck outside The Mira Hong Kong shortly before 10.30am.
She was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei but died at 12.16pm, a Hospital Authority spokesman said.
The woman’s 36-year-old boyfriend suffered slight injuries from glass fragments. He was treated at the same hospital and later discharged.
Hotel sector calls for safety checks after falling window kills woman
Police said the window measured 144cm by 30cm in size.
Asked why police had arrested the cleaner, Senior Inspector Chan Ka-ying from the Yau Tsim district crime squad said the window fell when the cleaner was opening it.
She added officers would check with the hotel to determine whether cleaning procedures required windows to be opened.
“We will look into other aspects such as the liability of parties like the hotel and its management.”
We will also look into other aspects such as the liability of parties like the hotel and its management
According to the source, the hotel went through a major renovation in 2009 and its windows were changed.
The Mira Hong Kong offered its condolences and said it was helping police with investigations.
“We will make every effort to assist [the victim’s] family,” the hotel said in a statement.
All listed room types on the hotel’s website are non-smoking but there is no related information about its suites.
A Mira spokeswoman later said no further information would be released because an investigation was under way. She added smoking was prohibited in all indoor areas of the hotel.
The Buildings Department said they were investigating why the window had fallen and members of staff, including surveyors, had been sent to the hotel.
It said they would continue to follow up the case and try to complete inspection as early as possible.
Prior to the incident, the department had not received any complaint of windows being in a defective or dilapidated state in the building.
Window damage by Typhoon Mangkhut akin to being hit by an earthquake
Another police source said the victim worked in mainland China and came to Hong Kong on Monday with her boyfriend and two other friends for sightseeing.
She checked in at a hotel in the same district and was going shopping with her boyfriend when she was hit by the window.
The incident occurred near the junction with Kimberley Road, opposite Kowloon Park, and about 300 metres from Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station.
A section of the pavement and Nathan Road southbound was cordoned off by police.
Falling window in Causeway Bay injures 15-year-old boy
Under a mandatory window inspection scheme introduced in 2012, owners of buildings aged 10 years or more – excluding those not taller than three storeys – and who are served with statutory notices are required to appoint a qualified person to carry out inspections and supervise repair works where necessary.
Separately at 12.15pm on Monday, a window fell from a public housing flat on Fu Shin Estate in Tai Po. No one was injured in the incident and police are looking into the case.
