High drama in Hong Kong as tilting gondola traps 2 workers on luxury tower
Firefighters abseil down to gondola to rescue workers trapped near top of 59-storey tower
Firefighters rescued two workers who were suspended in mid-air for more than an hour after a gondola hanging from the top of a Hong Kong high-rise luxury tower malfunctioned and tilted sideways.
Police said they received a report at 2.50pm from a security guard at The Belcher’s, a residential development near the University of Hong Kong, that two workers were stranded on a gondola attached to Tower 8 of the development.
The Belcher’s is a large residential complex on Pok Fu Lam Road with six high-rise towers. Tower 8 has 59 floors.
Footage from the scene shows a firefighter abseiling down to the gondola and rescuing one of the trapped workers at about 4pm, lifting him safely back to the top of the building.
The second worker was rescued in a similar operation at around 4.30pm.
Gondolas, or suspended working platforms, are commonly used on Hong Kong’s high-rise buildings for tasks such as window cleaning and exterior wall maintenance.