Hong Kong Mirror accident: government department not liable for stage safety, court hears

A Hong Kong Coliseum deputy manager who oversaw the coordination of Cantopop boy band Mirror’s concert has admitted in a fraud trial that the government department is not responsible for stage safety or required to inspect platform installations, including a collapsed giant screen that injured two dancers.

Kiki Wong Wing-ki told the District Court on Friday that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department only relied on a report submitted by the engineering consultancy hired by the concert organiser to confirm the safety of the show initially scheduled to run from July 25 to August 6 in 2022.

The concert was terminated after the incident took place on the fourth day of the show.

She stressed that it was the organiser’s duty to ensure stage safety by obtaining an assessment report compiled by an engineering consultancy firm.

A defence counsel asked the concert coordinator if the department was required to ensure the six overhanging screens or other objects attached to the ceiling rigging were securely installed.

“We would not know because we were not responsible for this [area of work]. The organiser should take care of the props belonging to them,” Wong said.

Wong was testifying in a trial stemming from the incident when the four-by-four-metre (13-by-13-foot) screen fell into the stage on July 28, 2022, leaving Mirror’s dancers Mo Li Kai-yin with severe spinal injuries and Chang Tsz-fung with a fractured pelvis.