Hong Kong worker killed by falling curtain glass wall at West Kowloon site

A Hong Kong worker was killed when a 1.2-tonne curtain glass wall struck him after it fell at a construction site atop the West Kowloon high-speed rail station.

Police said on Sunday that the incident, which took place at a Sun Hung Kai Properties-developed site a day earlier, had been classified as an industrial accident, adding the force would follow up with the Labour Department.

The force said the victim was a 53-year-old man surnamed Leung, adding that the glass curtain wall which struck the victim had weighed 1.2 tonnes and measured 2.5 by two metres.

A source said Leung and two other workers were assigned to lower the glass from the ceiling to the ground, with the curtain wall secured using two straps and hooks placed at two points.

Leung, who was wearing a safety helmet, had positioned himself underneath the glass as the group prepared to move it when one of the straps snapped, causing the curtain wall to fall, the insider said.

“His coworkers and two other workers used a forklift to move the glass curtain wall and relocate Leung to a safe area. At that time, he was unconscious,” the source said.