‘Alteration may have caused’ deadly collapse of bamboo scaffolding at Hong Kong building site
- Two women died and three other workers were injured after bamboo scaffolding on luxury housing high-rise gave way
- Labour Department spokesman says citywide inspections of bamboo scaffolding will include checks on the safety and stability of large projects
Bamboo scaffolding that broke free from its fixtures, leaving two workers dead and three injured at a high-rise building under construction at Hong Kong’s former airport, could have been altered between inspections, the Post has learned, as authorities launched citywide safety checks.
A source familiar with the case said the collapsed 15-by-eight-metre section of scaffolding erected outside the 19th floor of a 30-storey building at the former Kai Tak Airport was inspected on Wednesday last week and found to be safe.
The next inspection had been scheduled for February 28.
“It is possible those involved in installation duties on the outer wall of the building might have removed part of the structure to facilitate their work,” the insider said on Wednesday, adding that officers were looking into all possibilities.
But he did not reveal whether metal supports for the scaffolding or bamboo connection pieces had been removed.
Two women, aged 54 and 68, were killed and three other workers injured in the accident at the Pano Harbour luxury housing development at Kai Tak on Tuesday.
The collapsed scaffolding tumbled down to the ground and fell onto four workers, killing two. One of the survivors, a woman, was working on the scaffolding at the time.