Four people were injured Tuesday when a section of the popular Li Yuen East Street in the heart of Central caved in during the lunch-hour rush.Three of the four are reported to be in a stable condition at Queen Mary Hospital, while the fourth was treated and discharged.
Those still being treated are a 66-year-old vendor surnamed Chan, a man aged 56, and a woman aged 50.
The cave-in occurred shortly after a thunderstorm Tuesday dumped 50 millimeters of rain around the SAR.
The Hong Kong Observatory had earlier raised the yellow rainstorm warning, followed 30 minutes later by the red warning. Schools were closed and children sent home.
The observatory said there were more than 1,200 flashes of lightning during the thunderstorm, which also affected air traffic with several flights to and from the territory delayed by as much as an hour.
The cave-in left an eight-by-four- meter hole in the road, sucking in several stalls by the roadside.
At least four people fell into the four- meter deep hole but they were quickly pulled out by passers-by.
Among those hurt were roadside vendors selling towels, watches and stockings.
About 30 firemen were deployed to the scene to pump water and sewage from the hole.
Station Commander Pang Yat- kwong of the Central Fire Station said clearing the mess was difficult because Li Yuen East Street is narrow.
"Water and sewage is still pouring into the hole and there is a lot of debris scattered around. To make sure no one is tr
apped, we have to remove everything manually."Pang said he would not speculate on what caused the cave-in.
Hong Kong Institute of Engineers president Greg Wong Chak-yan said the incident may be related to the nearby construction work but said it would be unwise to point fingers without a full investigation.
Construction work on the former Dragon Seed Building began last December.
A man surnamed Li who has been manning a roadside stall for more than 20 years said he had never seen anything like it.
He was chatting with a store owner when the ground suddenly opened up and the owner disappeared into the hole.
Mrs Tong, owner of two watch shops, said the road had become uneven of late and she and others had complained about it.
"We made complaints to the Highways Department. They sent some people down and fixed the pavement, but that was all."
