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Danny Mok

A scaffolding collapse at a construction site for a new hospital in Hong Kong’s Kai Tak has left 11 workers injured, including four critically.
The bamboo structure, measuring 60 metres by 20 metres (197 feet by 66 feet), gave way at about 4pm on Monday.
Two workers had been trapped at the site on Shing Cheong Road, where the acute hospital is being built. The facility is expected to be one of the city’s largest hospitals upon completion.
A female worker, one of the four listed as critically hurt, was said to be half-conscious when rescued.
All four critical cases were being treated at United Christian Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
One of the others injured remained in a serious condition and another was stable.
Five people were discharged from hospital after treatment.
The Fire Services Department said the scaffolding collapsed at a 15-storey building that was set to become the hospital’s oncology centre.
The accident resulted in injuries to seven men and four women.
Police said the Kowloon East regional crime unit would launch an investigation to see why the structure collapsed and whether any criminal liability was involved.
The Hospital Authority, which manages the project covering about 500,000 square metres in construction floor area, said the workers were employed by contractor China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) Limited.
The authority said it was very concerned and had urged the contractor to follow up seriously and take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the site. It added it had asked the contractor to conduct a thorough investigation and submit a report as soon as possible.

The collapse occurred during the later stages of curtain wall works, it said.
Works on the scaffolding at the site would be temporarily suspended, a spokesman added, and the authority reserved the right to hold the contractor accountable.
In a video taken at the scene and circulated online, several workers could be seen trapped in various positions on the collapsed scaffolding.
One of them was hanging from the structure with their hands and feet caught in the bamboo sticks.
Another was seen holding the scaffolding tightly to avoid falling. A worker also appeared to have fallen to the edge of the building, lying face down on the ground and unresponsive.
The hospital, which began construction in 2018, is set to be completed next year and is located in the Kai Tak Development Area.
The project, temporarily called Kai Tak Hospital, is an initiative from the 2013 policy address. It will be one of the largest hospitals in the city, with 2,400 beds, 37 operating theatres, a neuroscience centre, an oncology centre, specialist outpatient clinics with a capacity of more than 1.4 million attendances, and a community health centre.
The Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union strongly urged the Labour Department to immediately conduct an in-depth investigation into the accident and to make its report public.
“The Labour Department must earnestly learn from the heavy lessons of past industrial accidents, promptly review regulatory and enforcement loopholes, and swiftly address deficiencies,” it said.
In February last year and just 500 metres from the latest accident, two workers died and three other people were injured after bamboo scaffolding measuring 15 metres by eight metres collapsed at a 30-storey building in the luxury housing development Pano Harbour. The main contractor involved was Hip Hing Construction.


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Structure measuring 60 metres by 20 metres partially gave way at about 4pm at construction site for new hospital in Kai Tak


Structure measuring 60 metres by 20 metres partially gave way at about 4pm at construction site for new hospital in Kai Tak.


Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals