A 29-year-old female worker suffered third-degree burns to her face and hands after an electrical fault sparked a fire at the backstage of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui on Monday morning.
The incident occurred around 11.25am at the main auditorium backstage at 10 Salisbury Road. The woman, surnamed Chow, was dismantling a power distribution box when an operational error caused an electric shock and sparks, burning her face and hands.
Paramedics applied cooling dressings and took her to hospital conscious. She is in the intensive care unit in stable condition.
CLP staff checked and confirmed the main power supply was normal. An Electrical and Mechanical Services Department engineer said the fire was caused by a short circuit in a high-voltage switch. The Labour Department attended and preliminarily classified the case as an industrial accident.
The EMSD said the injured woman is not a registered electrical worker and is investigating whether anyone violated the Electricity Ordinance. It said the stage renter's registered electrical contractor was dismantling fixed electrical installations, and it is initially suspected the woman touched a live part during electrical work, causing a short circuit and fire. The department has cut off power to the damaged installation and issued an improvement notice to its owner.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department said an outsourced worker of a renting arts group was injured while dismantling stage equipment backstage at the Grand Theatre and was taken to hospital. Cultural centre operations were not affected, and the LCSD, EMSD and Labour Department are investigating.
