Smoking air conditioner prompts evacuation of 200 at Science Museum, no injuries reported

About 200 people were evacuated from the Hong Kong Science Museum on Wednesday afternoon after smoke and a burning smell were detected from the museum’s rooftop air conditioning system.

The incident occurred at around 12.06pm at the museum on Science Museum Road in Tsim Sha Tsui East, where visitors and staff reported a pungent burning odor inside the exhibition hall.

Police and firefighters arrived at the scene and traced the smell to the central air conditioning system on the rooftop.

Sources said investigators believed the incident was caused by friction from a broken fan belt in one of the air conditioning units, which generated smoke and spread the burning smell into the museum.

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It is understood that about 2,000 people visited the museum in the morning, of whom around 200 were evacuated safely. No injuries were reported.

Following the incident, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced that the museum would be temporarily closed due to a malfunction in its air conditioning system, adding that emergency repairs were being arranged.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓