Mirror concert accident: signs of metal fatigue found in wire used to suspend screen, says government task force
- ‘Large chance that one of possible causes of incident is wire was subjected to metal fatigue, causing it to break,’ says government task force leader
- Meanwhile, group cancels first overseas show in Japan over ‘unforeseen circumstances’
A wire used to suspend a giant screen that crashed on to a stage during a concert of Hong Kong boy band Mirror shows signs of metal fatigue, according to a government task force investigating the accident.
The inquiry task force, ordered by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu following the incident at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hung Hom, met for the second time on Friday.
In the accident last week, a four-by-four-metre screen fell on to the stage during the band’s performance, injuring three dancers, with one of them in critical condition.
“On close examination under a microscope at the scene …. we believe that there is a large chance that one of the possible causes of the incident is that the wire was subjected to metal fatigue, causing it to break,” Lee Tsz-chun, chairman of the task force and an assistant director at the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, said after the meeting.
Lee added that more tests were needed to confirm the findings and that the task force was not ruling out any other possible causes. He noted the team had also gone over documents and graphs from the concert organisers.
He said they were also looking to examine the leftover wires and equipment suspended above the stage at the Coliseum, adding that seats and parts of the stage had already been removed to facilitate checks by experts at a later date.
The task force comprises officials from the Labour Department and Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, as well as an expert from the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers.
