Hong Kong Mirror accident: city did not have standards for suspension wires, court hears

A former Hong Kong Coliseum manager has acknowledged that the government department responsible for its operation had not issued any guidelines on standards for suspension wires during a fraud trial stemming from the collapse of a giant screen at a concert by Cantopop boy band Mirror that left two dancers injured.

But Wendy Tang Hiu-suen stressed on Thursday that Engineering Impact Limited, the principal contractor for the show on July 28, 2022, was responsible for ensuring all equipment design fulfilled legal requirements.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department employee added it could not verify the veracity of safety plans submitted by every event organiser due to the volume of applications.

Tang was testifying at the District Court against two Engineering Impact employees and a stage technician over allegations they had plotted to under-report the weight of stage equipment to induce the department to expedite a vetting process for the show.

Engineering Impact project managers Ng Hoi-ying, 42, Lam Chi-wah, 61, and Joseph Leung Yiu-cho, 50, are standing trial on a joint count of conspiracy to defraud and an alternative charge of fraud.

Leung, who is also a lighting designer, works for concert production firm Infinity Project Management, an extension of Engineering Impact’s technical production business.

Senior Public Prosecutor Kelvin Tang Ming-chung said in his opening statement that the trio, in information provided to the department to obtain its approval, claimed six overhanging screens used in the show weighed a total of 3,600lbs (1,633kg), but a subsequent investigation revealed their actual weight was 9,852.5lbs.