Two incidents which took place mere hours apart at a construction site for the MTR Sha Tin to Central Link have left one worker dead and another in critical condition.
At around 3pm yesterday, a 50-year-old labourer contracted by China State Construction was laying metal decking from a 30-foot-high offshore platform when he slipped and fell into 20-foot-deep waters, Apple Daily reports.
The worker, surnamed Kwok, sustained a head injury from his fall and was rushed to hospital from the Hung Hom site, but could not be resuscitated.
Police stated that Kwok had been wearing a safety vest and helmet.
At 6pm, a 54-year-old worker on the same site reportedly collapsed just before he was about to punch out his time card.
The worker, surnamed Choi, began to convulse, and was afterwards found to have no pulse. His colleagues used an automated external defibrillator on him before sending him to hospital, where he remains in the intensive care unit.
Speaking to the press, police did not rule out that Choi, who was contracted by Leighton Asia, had collapsed from heatstroke.
According to a spokesperson for MTR Corp., the company has expressed its “deep condolences” to Kwok’s relatives over his death, and has reportedly offered the grieving family HKD200,000.
The Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims has called for MTR Corp. to conduct a thorough investigation into the incidents and strengthen safety measures protecting their workers.
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