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A police officer removes a cable from the Hong Kong Coliseum as part of a probe into how a giant TV screen fell on to a stage and injured dancers during a concert by boy band Mirror. Photo: Edmond So

Hong Kong Mirror concert tragedy probe focuses on broken cable on giant TV screen

  • Contractors who worked on set for concert to be grilled over cable holding giant TV screen up that snapped and injured dancers
  • Post told that preliminary examination shows broken cable had no signs of man-made damage

Hong Kong authorities are to investigate if a metal cable used to suspend a massive television screen that crashed onto a stage and injured two dancers at a concert by boy band Mirror was faulty, a government source has said.

The insider said investigators would talk to contractors who worked on the stage set at the Hong Kong Coliseum, check if the cable was imported, identify the supplier and maker and find out what materials were used in its manufacture.

The four-by-four-metre screen, which was suspended over the stage during the band’s performance on July 28, broke free and fell, injuring two supporting performers, one of them critically.

The Post has learned that a preliminary examination of the snapped cable by government scientists found it showed no signs of man-made damage.

Mirror dancer Mo Li, injured at concert in Hong Kong, has woken up: father

Lee Tsz-chun, chairman of a task force set up by the government to investigate the accident, last Friday said one of the possible causes of the incident was that the wire suffered from metal fatigue, which caused it to break.

The source said investigators would also examine other cables on the stage set to see if they showed signs of metal fatigue and if they came from the same supplier.

He added other cables and equipment used in the show would be lowered from the ceiling for checks this week.

Detectives removed six giant screens, the supporting frames and a broken screw as evidence from the venue on Sunday. The screw is believed to have been used to fix the cable lock on the screen that fell.

Police officers collect evidence from the Hong Kong Coliseum at the weekend after two dancers were injured, one seriously, when a giant TV monitor crashed on to the stage during a concert by boy band Mirror. Photo: Felix Wong.

Police continued to interview witnesses such as dancers and stage engineers at the headquarters of the Kowloon West regional crime unit in Kowloon City on Monday.

A force insider said police were still arranging interviews with Mirror band members Anson Lo Hon-ting and Edan Lui Cheuk-on, who were on stage when the screen fell.

Lo Ting-fai, chief executive of MakerVille, one of the concert organisers, and Francis Lam Ho-yuen, a producer responsible for the group’s We Are Live Concert 2022, were interviewed by police last week.

Hong Kong Mirror concert tragedy sparks massive review of concert venue safety

Officers also spoke to the engineers responsible for inspection of stage sets before the show.

Dancer Mo Li Kai-yin, 27, who suffered serious injuries when the giant screen hit him and who risks being paralysed from the neck down, regained consciousness over the weekend.

His father, pastor Derek Li Shing-lam, said on Sunday Mo Li, who underwent two major operations in the wake of the tragedy, was able to manage basic communication.

He remained in intensive care and in critical condition with stable vital signs on Monday, a Queen Elizabeth Hospital ­spokesman said.

Chang Tsz-fung, 29, also injured by the falling screen, was discharged from the CUHK Medical Centre on Sunday.

A third dancer was said to have been injured during rehearsals for the shows.

The accident has affected other events which involve large-scale installations, as the government has imposed new requirements at short notice.

Can ‘Mirror effect’ survive Hong Kong concert tragedy?

One of them is the Yu Lan Festival, which spans from the beginning to the end of the seventh lunar month and is celebrated by people such as the Chiu Chow community by performing rituals for wandering ghosts in the netherworld.

Stanley Tsui Ka-hing, president of the Tai Kong Po Chiu Kiu Yue Lan Association, said the Buildings Department had told them about new, stricter requirements for setting up their titanium-alloy marquee just three days before their festival started on August 7.

“They implied the new requirements were set because of the recent ‘Hung Hom incident’, which we understand is the Mirror concert, but our tent has been built this way for many years and it is very safe,” Tsui said.

A task force is investigating the accident at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Photo: Handout

He said their structural engineer had suggested it was impossible for them to fulfil the criteria in such short notice as it involved complicated calculations and the association decided to withdraw its application for a public entertainment licence.

“Our event is held on private premises, and we take responsibility for the tent if it has any problems,” he said, adding that the rituals were after all for God and ghosts not for human beings.

Hong Kong’s Mirror concert mishap: the unanswered questions

Tsui said just three groups were celebrating the festival this year, compared with 60 before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ng Bing-sum, permanent adviser to Cheung Sha Wan Chiu Chow Commercial Yue Lan Association, said they could fulfil requirements as their festival in Kowloon would be held at the end of this month.

“We still have time to get things done,” Ng said.

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