Hong Kong worker dies after becoming trapped under mechanical digger that toppled over at Tai Po building site
- Man, 47, thrown from excavator cabin in industrial accident in Sha Lan Road
- Firefighters free him but worker pronounced dead less than an hour later
A worker died after being thrown from the cabin of an excavator that toppled over at a building site in northern Hong Kong on Thursday.
Emergency services were called shortly before 11.30am, when the tragedy struck at the Sha Lan Road site in Tai Po.
The mechanical shovel was being used for digging on a slope at the time of the accident, according to police.
“The excavator accidentally toppled onto one side and a male worker was hurled out of the operator’s cabin and trapped under the machine,” a police spokesman said.
The worker, 47, was later freed by firefighters. He was taken unconscious to Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, where he was certified dead about 12.15pm.
The spokesman said officers were still investigating the cause of the incident.
According to police, initial investigation found nothing suspicious and the case was classified as an industrial accident.
Police said the Labour Department had been notified.