A worker, surnamed Lam, was found unconscious at the construction site at around 5pm on Wednesday, police said. He was sent to Union Hospital, where he was certified dead. Staff at the construction site told police that Lam was hit by an industrial component on a forklift.

The industrial component, measuring one metre by 2.3 metres by 0.65 metres, weighs around a tonne, according to a preliminary investigation. In a statement published late Wednesday evening, the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims (ARIAV), a labour concern group, said the worker was helping transport a fire hydrant component when the incident took place. ARIAV urged the Labour Department “to thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and make public the investigation report to avoid similar accidents.” It also urged the worker’s employer to assist his family.

According to the government, the Labour Department immediately deployed staff to the scene upon receiving a report of the accident and is now conducting an investigation. Kai Tak Hospital. Photo: GovHK.

Kai Tak Hospital, set to be Hong Kong’s biggest hospital with around 2,400 beds, will open in October, the Hospital Authority (HA) said earlier this month. The HA said on Wednesday night that it had urged the main contractor, China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) Ltd, to provide assistance to the worker’s family. It also urged the main contractor to investigate the incident and to submit a report to the authority. In January, the collapse of a large bamboo scaffold at the Kai Tak Hospital construction site injured 11 workers, including one who sustained a serious injury.