Killer falling window at The Mira Hong Kong was no freak accident, government reveals
- A 24-year-old woman was killed by the pane in Tsim Sha Tsui in January
- There have been more than 200 other reports of falling windows in the past three years
A falling hotel window that killed a young woman in Hong Kong last month was not a freak occurrence, it transpired on Wednesday, when a government minister revealed a pane had fallen every five days for the past three years.
Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun reported the figure to the Legislative Council, adding that about 59,000 notices ordering building owners to inspect their windows had been ignored, at least one of them for six years.
In a written reply to architectural sector lawmaker Tony Tse Wai-chuen, Wong said that between 2016 and 2018 the Buildings Department received 216 reports of falling windows involving private buildings aged 10 years or older. But he said the department did not keep figures on related casualties.
Private blocks aged more than 10 years fall under a mandatory window inspection scheme launched in 2012. And Wong said about 59,000 – or 12 per cent – of 500,000 notices sent out to 9,843 buildings had not been complied with. The statutory notices require the owner to appoint a qualified person to inspect the windows and supervise repairs if required.
“Among the non-compliant cases, the longest overdue period is about six years,” Wong said.