Hong Kong police arrest 5 over falling screen at Mirror concert as investigations point to subpar installation work
- Four of five suspects are from main stage contractor Engineering Impact Limited, while one is from subcontractor Hip Hing Loong
- Separate investigation by interdepartmental task force concludes low pressure-resistant cabling, under-reported installation weight contributed to accident
Hong Kong police have arrested five people in connection with the case of a falling giant screen that seriously injured two dancers during a Mirror concert, as investigations revealed that subpar installation work and wrongful declaration of information had contributed to the accident.
The five suspects, some arrested for fraud and for allowing objects to be dropped from a height, were targeted in the operation that began at daybreak on Friday, several months after a four-by-four metre screen collapsed during a performance on July 28 by the popular Cantopop boy band.
Police also accused Engineering Impact Limited, the principal contractor of the concert, of deliberately under-reporting the weight of the stage equipment in a bid to mislead the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to hasten a government approval process for the show.
Four of the five arrested were staff members from Engineering Impact Limited, comprising a business director, two project managers and a technical coordinator. The fifth suspect was a senior technician from Hip Hing Loong.
Hours after police arrested the five, an interdepartmental task force told a press conference that the accident was caused by the incorrect reporting of the installations’ weights, the use of substandard cabling and a poorly installed rope guard.
It added that an authorised person appointed by the organisers had failed to properly certify that the stage was secure.