Floating lanterns are a beautiful sight, until they land in the wrong place.
And one released during Monday night’s Mid-Autumn Festival appears to have caused some problems, lodging itself on the roof of a West Rail Line train.
The sky lantern is believed to have been behind a subsequent power disruption on the line on Monday evening, which caused four trains to temporarily grind to a halt.
Video published by Apple Daily today shows passengers stuck on a four-carriage train that stopped just outside Siu Hong MTR station at 10:20pm on Monday.
In the video, MTR staff can be heard explaining to passengers that they can’t open the train doors as the train isn’t aligned with the safety doors on the station platform.
Passengers can be seen trying to open the train’s windows to let more air in as the power failure triggered the train’s emergency lighting system and caused the train’s air conditioning to stop working.
Three other trains on the West Rail Line also suffered a power failure and came to a standstill.
An MTR spokesperson confirmed that services returned to normal after 25 minutes, and a preliminary investigation found remnants of a sky lantern on one of the trains.
The spokesperson added that the cause of the power disruption still needs further investigation.
Apple Daily reported that a similar incident happened during the 2014 Mid-Autumn Festival when a sky lantern landed on an East Rail Line train at Tai Po Market station, and again in 2010 when two East Rail Line trains were slightly damaged by falling sky lanterns.
Local media outlets have reported that there were sightings of people in parts of the New Territories releasing sky lanterns into the air. These lanterns are released into the air as they symbolise couriers sending good wishes to the gods.
Sky lanterns are banned on premises run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), and offenders can be handed a HK$2,000 fine and 14 days in jail.
On.cc reports that it is also an offence for anyone to produce a fire or light up a sky lantern in a country park or suburb, and the maximum penalty is a HK$25,000 fine and one year in prison.
So now you know for next year.
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