Girl, 6, critical after crane drops air conditioner in Mid-Levels

A six-year-old girl is fighting for her life after being stuck by debris in Mid-Levels when a crane dropped an air conditioning unit it was moving.

The girl was with dozens of other Primary One students waiting for a bus near the 24-storey Coda Plaza off Graden Road when a steel cable of a crane snapped, sending the cubic-metre air con unit it was carrying plummeting from the 22 floor to the ground.

The pavement and an underwater pipe were damaged, with fragments scattered into the crowd of children, who were waiting with their teachers to return to their Kowloon Bay school at around 11:45am yesterday.

They had been visiting the Zoological and Botanical Gardens in Central.

One girl was hit in the head and was bleeding and unconscious at the scene, reports the SCMP.

She is said to be in a critical condition at Queen Mary Hospital after undergoing surgery.

Another girl had to be treated for minor injuries while a third, understandably, suffered shock.

The 58-year-old man in charge of the loading at the site was arrested but has not yet been charged.

Police are investigating whether the incident amounts to human error, negligence or a mechanical fault.

Photo: Judy van der Velden
 


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