Hongkongers call for checks after glass wall panel at shopping centre falls, injuring 4
Panel measuring two by three metres falls from fifth floor of Citywalk in Tsuen Wan onto pavement, sending broken glass flying
Residents and vendors around a Hong Kong shopping centre have called for stepped-up inspections a day after a dislodged glass panel of its external wall fell five floors and caused injuries, with authorities saying they would order the building’s owner to investigate.
The site where the sheet of glass landed was sealed off on Friday morning. Police said the panel, measuring about two by three metres (6.6 by 9.8 feet), fell from the fifth floor of Citywalk shopping centre in Tsuen Wan at about 6.40pm the day before.
Four people – a man and three women – suffered minor injuries. Three of them were taken to hospital.
Witnesses recalled hearing two separate “bangs” within a span of seconds, and one vendor said she saw two people being injured by the falling glass.
“I didn’t know what was happening at the time. I was working here, then I heard a loud bang as a piece of glass fell,” said a fruit vendor surnamed Huang. “After a while, a few seconds later, another piece of glass fell down.”
The 50-year-old, whose store is located across the road from where the glass fell, said she was scared when the incident occurred, as she was worried that someone could have been killed.
