Hong Kong police arrest 5 over falling screen at Mirror concert as investigations point to subpar installation work
- Four of five suspects are from main stage contractor Engineering Impact Limited, while one is from subcontractor Hip Hing Loong
- Separate investigation by interdepartmental task force concludes low pressure-resistant cabling, under-reported installation weight contributed to accident
Hong Kong police have arrested five people in connection with the case of a falling giant screen that seriously injured two dancers during a Mirror concert, as investigations revealed that subpar installation work and wrongful declaration of information had contributed to the accident.
The five suspects, some arrested for fraud and for allowing objects to be dropped from a height, were targeted in the operation that began at daybreak on Friday, several months after a four-by-four metre screen collapsed during a performance on July 28 by the popular Cantopop boy band.
Police also accused Engineering Impact Limited, the principal contractor of the concert, of deliberately under-reporting the weight of the stage equipment in a bid to mislead the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to hasten a government approval process for the show.
Four of the five arrested were staff members from Engineering Impact Limited, comprising a business director, two project managers and a technical coordinator. The fifth suspect was a senior technician from Hip Hing Loong.
Hours after police arrested the five, an interdepartmental task force told a press conference that the accident was caused by the incorrect reporting of the installations’ weights, the use of substandard cabling and a poorly installed rope guard.
It added that an authorised person appointed by the organisers had failed to properly certify that the stage was secure.
The government-appointed body explained that there was no turnbuckle installed on the other side of the fallen screen, which could have prevented the total collapse of the monitor when the cabling on one side snapped.
The task force, which is led by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, also recommended that an independent third party be required to cross-examine all engineering works and installations for events held at public venues, rather than relying only on reports submitted by companies.
When asked if his department bore any responsibility for the accident, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung just said it had set out clear terms and conditions for companies to follow, adding “it was the builder or the installers who should employ a qualified professional to certify the installations are safe and sound”.
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Earlier on Friday, Superintendent Alan Chung of the Kowloon West regional crime unit said authorities were given incorrect data on the installation for approval, days before the first show started on July 25, adding that the LED screen involved encountered an operational issue during a test run on the morning of the accident.
Chief Inspector Chow Chun-choi of the same unit said security camera footage showed staff from subcontractor Hip Hing Loong climbing on the LED screen to carry out adjustment works on the panel, and a related steel rope, hours before it crashed onto the stage.
“We cannot find any evidence that the company had arranged any authorised person or engineer to inspect or check the LED panel,” he said.
Chung said the investigation also indicated Engineering Impact and Hip Hing Loong had not taken any measures to ensure that the mechanical devices and cables, which had been bought from a mainland Chinese supplier, had met safety requirements.
“Our investigation also revealed that after the completion of the installation of the lifting devices, no one had arranged authorised or qualified engineers to carry out a thorough inspection to ensure the lifting devices could operate safely,” he said.
The most severe under-reporting centred on eight sets of speakers on the stage. According to police, the sets weighed 12,240lbs (5,552kg) – about seven times more than the contractor’s reported weight of 1,600lbs.
For the six LED screens in the stadium, which weighed a total of 9,852lbs, Engineering Impact Limited had under-reported their weight by 63 per cent at 3,600lbs.
A structure installed with lighting devices weighed 5,141lbs in total, about 4.8 times more than the main contractor’s reported weight of 1,080lbs.
Laser lights and their related mechanical devices weighed 756lbs, about 3.7 times more than the 200lbs declared by Engineering Impact Limited.
“There were lots of factors that caused the accident, and the numerous under-reported weights could just be one of them,” Chung said, adding that police believed the main contractor had not disclosed the correct weights because it wanted early approval for the concert.
“If the contractor had declared the actual weight, they might have been required to recalculate the ceiling’s load bearing and redesign the installation, which might have increased costs,” he said.
The five suspects, aged 40 to 63, were arrested in a series of raids in Lam Tin, Ma On Shan, Pat Heung, Shau Kei Wan and Tai Kok Tsui.
According to police, the four employees from Engineering Impact Limited were detained on suspicion of fraud and allowing an object to fall from height, while the Hip Hing Loong staff member was arrested for allegedly allowing an object to fall from height.
As of Friday afternoon, all the suspects were still being held for questioning.
Chung said he hoped officers’ efforts over the past three months could bring some justice for those who were injured in the accident, including dancer Mo Li Kai-yin who was directly struck by the four-by-four-metre screen when it fell.
Li, who was severely injured, improved in condition from serious to stable in September, but still remains in Queen Elizabeth Hospital and is at risk of becoming paralysed from the neck down due to damaged vertebrae.
The update on Li’s situation from his father on October 7 revealed that a cervical collar had been removed and that the younger man could turn his head to see outside his ward for the first time since his injury.
“No matter how many people are arrested by police today, how many people are prosecuted or even convicted by the court in the future, all of the above may not make up for what the injured [Li] lost in this incident,” Chung said.
He said Friday’s arrests did not mean that the police investigation had come to an end, adding that further arrests were possible.
In Hong Kong, those with intent to defraud who induce another individual to commit “an act or make an omission resulting in prejudice or a substantial risk of prejudice” to others can be jailed for up to 14 years under the Theft Ordinance.
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Under the Summary Offences Ordinance, dropping an object from a building and endangering or injuring a person carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a HK$10,000 (US$1,274) fine.
Concert organisers Music Nation and MakerVille released a joint statement on Friday night, saying they would reserve the legal right to take action against any contractors or subcontractors linked to the investigations.
The two companies also pledged to fund the medical treatments of three dancers hurt during the concert series, including a third performer who was injured in a separate incident.
On the results of both investigations, the concert organisers said they would continue to cooperate with the government and police, adding that they welcomed any effort to enhance the safety of performers and staff.
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MakerVille is also Mirror’s management arm and comes under the parent firm, telecoms company PCCW.
In September, Richard Li Tzar-kai, chairman of PCCW, pledged to donate HK$10 million to Mo Li and his family after the billionaire visited the performer in hospital but the offer was declined by Li’s father, who cited the continuing investigation.
