Repairman ‘swamped’ with work did not maintain faulty escalator in Hong Kong shopping mall accident, court hears
The repairman, 58, admitted he did not regularly maintain the escalator at Langham Place and was fined HK$6,000
The lawyer for repairman Lo Kwok-lam said this to the Kowloon City Court during the 58-year-old’s mitigation plea.
Lo admitted he failed to ensure that escalator works were carried out properly, a contravention of the Lifts and Escalators Ordinance. He was fined HK$6,000.
Technicians arrested for tampering with Hong Kong escalator after accident
The accident took place on March 25, when a 45-metre escalator linking the 4th and 8th floors of the popular shopping centre malfunctioned and suddenly moved in the reverse direction when about 120 people were using it.
Video footage from bystanders showed some people screaming and tumbling down the escalator, while others grabbed the handrail and managed to steady themselves.
An auxiliary braking system to stop the steps from going in the opposite direction did not kick in. It turned out that one of the springs was either locked or had malfunctioned.
Watch: Hong Kong escalator incident at Langham Place