Inquest into Hong Kong ‘haunted house’ death: visitors had clear instructions on attraction, show director says
- Cheung Chiu-kit died under mysterious circumstances at Ocean Park’s haunted house two years ago
- Show director Joel Brett Talacko tells Coroner’s Court all attractions inside theme park have maps posted at entrance
A Hong Kong theme park director has told an inquest there were clear instructions for visitors inside a haunted house where a student died two years ago.
Cheung Chiu-kit, 21, died after he was hit by a movable coffin slide at the Halloween attraction “Buried Alive” in Ocean Park in September 2017.
Cheung, who was pursuing a higher diploma in architecture at a vocational training school, was found unconscious behind a mechanical slide which was off-limits to visitors and was certified dead soon after he was rushed to Ruttonjee Hospital.
The accident took place just two days after the haunted house had been certified safe to run by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, and a day after members of the press were invited to try out the annual festival attraction, the Coroner’s Court was told on the first day of the inquest.
How Cheung had ventured into the restricted zone remained a mystery, when it was supposed to be guarded by staff and supervised by dozens of surveillance cameras.
Hui Lok-sze, Cheung’s girlfriend, told the court he had entered the haunted house but failed to return 10 minutes later – the time taken by one of their friends to walk through. He was carried out by paramedics around an hour later and already in a coma.
Alfred Fung Kwok-chor, lawyer for Ocean Park, asked whether Cheung had a habit of drinking and had consumed alcohol on the day of his death.
“Cheung did not drink that day. To my understanding, he had no such habit,” Hui said.
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Show director Joel Brett Talacko, who designed the haunted house, said players started the game by entering a closed coffin box positioned at a storey above ground, before music would play and the slide portion of the coffin moved, descending to ground level.
The player was then expected to continue to cover a short distance solo, before his friends joined him to explore another 10 spots inside the house and made for the exit.
He said the park had a range of safety measures to guarantee a smooth gaming experience, including staff who would direct the players at both ends of the slide, a foot plate annexed to the base of the slide to ensure a full stop at the end of it, and at least 10 surveillance cameras installed inside the coffin and on both levels of the house.
According to Talacko, lighting was also intended to guide the players in the right direction.
“Areas to go to would be brighter, while areas to avoid would be dimmer,” he said. “Humans behave like this. They walk towards bright places.”
Nelson Kwok Chung-him, the coroner’s officer in charge of this case, asked whether a player could get lost inside the attraction.
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Talacko confessed he was not “100 per cent sure” whether the haunted house had a layout plan on display, but according to his understanding, all attractions inside the park had maps posted at the entrance and were made visible to guests.
He also admitted the slide was not attached with a sensor that could halt its movement when it hit a person underneath.
The inquest is expected to last for six days.
