Safety belt ‘may have played pivotal role’ in saving life of Hong Kong worker, 51, who fell 19 floors in fatal scaffolding collapse
- The 51-year-old woman was standing on the 15-by-eight-metre scaffolding when it collapsed
- Source familiar with case describes her survival as a ‘miracle’, says safety harness may have stopped her from hitting ground directly
During the incident, which claimed the lives of two other workers, the 51-year-old woman, surnamed Li, was working on the 15-by-eight-metre (49-by-26-foot) structure to install aluminium plates and glass on the outer wall on the 19th floor of the building on the city’s former Kai Tak Airport runway.
A source familiar with the case said Li fell along with the collapsed scaffolding on Tuesday afternoon.
“An initial investigation indicated [Li] was wearing a safety belt at the time of the incident,” the insider said.
Describing her survival as a “miracle”, he said the safety harness might have stopped her body from hitting the ground directly, which could have helped save her life.
The truss-out scaffolding fell 19 floors to ground level, but remained intact without breaking into pieces.