Hong Kong crane collapse: contractor suspended from bidding on government work, may be taken off list of recognised tenderers
- Aggressive Construction Company not allowed to bid for public works projects until end of next year
- Police return to site to gather evidence at site where three died and six were injured
The main contractor at a Hong Kong construction site where a tower crane collapsed and killed three workers has been temporarily banned from bidding for public works and housing projects.
The Development Bureau on Thursday said that given the seriousness of the incident, Aggressive Construction Company would not be allowed to bid for public works projects until the end of next year and could be removed from the list of recognised tenderers if an investigation found further action was needed.
Bureau officers had inspected the four other public works projects the company was managing and no irregularities were found, it added.
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Crane accident kills 3 workers at Hong Kong construction site
The crane collapsed just before 11am on Wednesday, crashing onto six containers used as temporary offices at a Housing Society construction site in Sau Mau Ping. Five of the nine workers involved were trapped in some of the containers and had to be freed by firefighters.
The Housing Authority also suspended the company from bidding on its tenders and barred it from using cranes at five of the six projects the contractor was handling for the government agency.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said police would carry out a comprehensive investigation into the cause of the crane failure, which also injured six workers, and submit details to the Coroner’s Court to assess the need for a hearing.
More than 20 detectives from the police force’s Kowloon East regional crime unit returned to the site in the morning to gather evidence alongside officers from the Labour Department and the Government Laboratory.