'Miscommunication May Be Factor In MIRROR Accident'

A member of the task force probing the horrific accident at last month's MIRROR concert on Thursday said miscommunication may have contributed to a giant video screen falling onto the stage, injuring two dancers.

Louis Szeto from the Institution of Engineers told RTHK that preliminary findings indicate that a cable that snapped was found to be 20 percent weaker than normal; the screen was heavier than concert organisers declared; and a mechanism to move the panel up and down had flaws that weakened the cable further.

He added that miscommunication between the people who designed and installed the system may have made things worse.

“Because the wire and the winch was bought from other [places], while the installation was done in Hong Kong, [and] the design is also separately done by the event organiser. So, there might be a lack of communication”, he said, noting that even how weight is measured may not be consistent between different jurisdictions.

Szeto said the task force next hopes to get more physical evidence from the police, who are conducting a separate investigation, to study how a bolt that helped to hold up the massive screen had broke.

He said a final report would be completed only after the task force, the police and the Labour Department all wrap up their investigations, and all the results are consolidated.