Thousands of fearful Mirror fans sign petition after singer falls off stage

More than 11,000 fans of local boy band Mirror called on the organizer to improve stage safety after a band member fell one meter off stage in front of a horrified audience on the second night of their 12-concert series at Hong Kong Coliseum.

The fans launched an online petition after the incident when Frankie Chan Sui-fai was giving a speech on Tuesday night when he accidentally stepped off the edge of the stage, falling about a meter in front of the audience at the fully packed Coliseum in Hung Hom.

Chan managed to get on his feet immediately below the stage, assuring fans: "I'm sorry, I fell."

He later said on social media that he scratched his arm and had already seen a doctor after the concert.

Band members Anson Kong Ip-sang and Edan Lui Cheuk-on also almost fell off the stage on Monday night because of its complicated design.

The hexagon-shaped stage has six smaller triangular stage lifts on it, with part of the floor mirrored.

"We believe fans would rather see the band perform on a flat stage than have someone injured," the fans said in the petition.

A fan surnamed Chan who went to the concert on Tuesday said fans shouted in shock when the singer fell off the stage.

"I was worried before the concert but almost cried when I saw bad things happen, and it was only the second of the 12 shows," she said. "Luckily he stood up quickly and said he was fine."

She added that the band's safety was fans' top priority, saying there was no need to set up stage effects that posed a danger to the artists.

Before the concert started, some dancers complained on social media that the organizer ignored performers' safety after a dancer was injured. They said there was insufficient time to rehearse after the stage was built in a short time.

Safety issues on the stage arose after the first show on Monday, when the 12-member band performed on a shaky bridge in mid-air.

Online photos showed the middle of the bridge sloped down due to lack of support. Despite the bridge being removed the following night, it raised public concerns about the safety of the stage.

Lo Kok-keung, a chartered mechanical engineer and a fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, pointed out the bridge had structural problems regarding weight capacity and inadequate support.

"If the bridge sloped down when there were band members standing on it, it means that the weight capacity for the bridge was underestimated," Lo said.

He also said the railing on both sides of the bridge was too low and did not reach the band's waists, which could cause crucial casualties if anyone did fall from the bridge.

"Estimating that the mid-air bridge was 3.5-meters high, and with a normal male weighing around 63 kilograms, it would create 596 pounds of force if he fell from the bridge," Lo said.

A spokeswoman for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department told The Standard: "To ensure the structural safety of the stage, the Hong Kong Coliseum has always required the organizer to carry out the installation works under the supervision of a qualified professional approved by the [LCSD]."

She added that the department had urged the concert organizer to review the stage safety and provide enhanced measures to ensure performers' safety.

MakerVille, Mirror's entertainment company, did not respond to inquiries by The Standard.

But worried fans left comments on the band's Facebook page urging a response from the company.

Facebook user Irene Lo urged the company to review technical problems during the show, saying that those problems "will not happen even at school performances."

Another user recalled Wong Ka-hui's death in 1993 and urged the performance to be rearranged on the ground.

Wong, the singer with punk band Beyond, fell off a stage in Tokyo in June 1993 and later died of cerebral hemorrhage.

And singer Eason Chan Yick-shun suffered a severe groin injury when he fell off the stage during a concert in Taiwan.

As a result, one of his testicles had to be surgically removed.