Woman sent to hospital after being struck by falling window in Tsuen Wan

A woman was taken to hospital this morning after being hit by a falling window in Tsuen Wan this morning.

The incident happened around 9:55am this morning after a window and its aluminium frame — about 30 by 50 centimeters fell from an apartment unit on (thankfully) the first floor of a building on Hau Tei Square in Tsuen Wan, HK01 reports.

It struck a passing female pedestrian, a 69-year-old surnamed Fong — on the shoulder, and she was sent to hospital in a conscious state after police arrived at the scene.

After a preliminary investigation, police suspect that the window fell out after it was opened. They arrested a 47-year-old woman surnamed Wong, and she’s currently being detained for further investigation.

According to the outlet, this is not the only instance of a window falling from a building to happen today. Another window also fell from a height from the Pierhead Garden estate in Tuen Mun. No one was injured in that incident.

Today’s injury comes just two days after an elderly woman was killed by a triangular piece of metal that fell from a temporary platform erected outside an apartment under renovation 28 stories up. The incident took place outside of the shopping arcade of the Mayfair Gardens development in Tsing Yi while the woman was walking with her grandson.

Falling windows have been to blame for other recent injuries and deaths as well.

A a mainland tourist was killed by a window that fell from a hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui in January, and two elderly women were injured after a window fell on them from a Sham Shui Po building in March.

In May, a woman was arrested after a window fell from a building onto a busy street below in Wan Chai. Though no one was injured in that incident, under Hong Kong law, allowing an object to fall from a height is a criminal offense punishable by a fine or up to six months in prison.

Responding to an inquiry after the fatal incident in January, the government disclosed that the Buildings Department had received 216 reports of windows falling from buildings aged 10 years or older since it began keeping track in 2016. It added that it did not track the number of fatalities arising from such incidents, but said that it would going forward.

Note: This article has been updated to include information about the victim and the woman arrested.