Police arrested two people on Wednesday after they reclassified as manslaughter a fatal industrial accident, where a worker succumbed to abdominal injuries at an excavation site in Tuen Mun last week.

After an investigation, the force said they believe that an excavator operator – who allegedly did not possess the proper paperwork to operate the machine – had inadvertently hit the victim in Tsing Chuen Wai.

“The first man is a 51-year-old excavator operator. He is alleged of not holding a valid excavator operator certificate to operate an excavator, and hit the victim," chief inspector Chong Yuen-na said.

"The second man is a 29-year-old foreman, who is alleged of knowing that the operator did not hold a valid excavator operator certificate, and still allowed him to operate the machine in the recycling station,” she said.

Police have reasonable grounds to suspect that the case was caused by negligence as well as a failure of on-site management, Chong said, adding that officers have not ruled out future arrests.

She said that forensic examinations showed that the deceased’s abdomen was hit by a hard object, and that he had suffered internal bleeding.

The location and the form of his injuries were broadly consistent with the height of the excavator on site, Chong added.

Police and the Labour Department will continue to probe the case.


Edited by Aaron Tam