It’s raining cats and dogs, and TVs: things thrown from a height in Hong Kong despite efforts to crack down
A sledgehammer, a butcher’s cleaver, an air conditioner, a wooden pallet, scissors, pets – all have fallen or been thrown from high-rises in Hong Kong despite surveillance and efforts to educate residents about civic pride
What do a sledgehammer, fire extinguisher, two cats, a Spider-Man toy and a rucksack stuffed with cash have in common? Clue: this is not a joke. It is a list of objects that have all fallen or been thrown from a height over the past decade by Hong Kong residents of high-rise buildings.
The latest case was reported last week when a dog fell through the sunroof of a vehicle in Wan Chai – followed by a wooden pallet that landed next to it.
Many such incidents may go unreported because fatalities are rare. But the dangerous phenomenon made plenty of headlines in 2009, when a seven-year-old girl escaped serious injury when she was struck on the head by a falling hammer at a Tuen Mun public housing estate.
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Asked how common such incidents were, police revealed they had received 857 reports of “falling objects” in the first nine months of 2009. A total of 661 people had been injured.
Most of the items dropped from upper-floor windows and balconies were food leftovers and unwanted household goods, police said.
Other items that mysteriously fell or were thrown from high-rises in the space of just four weeks at the end of 2009 included a television set, air conditioner, butcher’s cleaver, scissors and a block of concrete.
To tackle the problem at public housing estates, the Housing Department said it had installed video cameras and deployed a team of former police officers to detect such offences. Still, the antisocial behaviour continued.
