Three injured in Lam Tin freak accident

Eunice Lam

Three workers were injured in a freak accident at a construction site in Lam Tin after an excavator tumbled down a slope, knocking over a noise barrier before hitting a garbage truck.

Thirteen fire engines and seven ambulances manned by 75 emergency staff were called to the site on Lin Tak Road near Hong Wah Court at 9.41am yesterday.

The injured were a 45-year-old excavator driver, Ip, a 50-year-old garbage truck driver who sustained limb injuries, and a 24-year-old passenger, Ma, whose leg was trapped in the vehicle.

All three men were sent to United Christian Hospital in a conscious state.

Fire Services Department assistant divisional officer Edmund Kao Chung-lei said the excavator, along with rocks and a 10-meter by five-meter barrier, had fallen off the slope, striking the garbage truck that was passing by on the road.

Kao said the passenger was trapped inside for about two hours and that firefighters had to use a crane and demolition tools to lift the excavator and remove the rocks.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department's spokesman said the garbage truck driver and passenger were outsourced workers.

"We have deployed staff to the hospital to visit the two workers and offer them adequate assistance," he said.