During a concert by the popular Hong Kong boy band Mirror, a massive video screen toppled onto the stage, injuring two male dancers.
It fell directly on one dancer before sliding backwards onto another, causing tens of thousands of people to shout. The concert was halted, and the audience was ordered to leave.
Late Thursday night, while more than a dozen performers were on stage at the Hong Kong Coliseum, the screen appeared to start detaching from one of the two metal cords to which it was attached. It was too late for the concert crew to prevent the video screen from falling.
On Friday, Hong Kong's secretary for culture, sports, and tourism, Kevin Yeung, explained that the screen had collapsed because one of the metal strands had snapped.
As of Friday morning, a Hospital Authority representative told NBC News that one of the dancers was in critical condition and the other was in stable condition. She did not disclose specifics on their injuries.
He told reporters, "We take this occurrence extremely seriously, since the safety of the performance stage is of the utmost importance." Yeung stated that relatives of the injured dancers are returning to Hong Kong from abroad.
Yeung added that family members of the hurt dancers are flying back to Hong Kong. All foreign visitors to China are quarantined in hotels for seven days according to COVID-19 regulations, with the exception of those who need to leave to visit sick relatives in local hospitals.
Yeung stated that the government would make every effort to combine the requirements of the relatives of the dancers with pandemic prevention efforts.
A working group including of experts and government workers will study the mishap and determine ways to assure the safety of future performances. The investigation is expected to take several weeks.
MakerVille, one of the performance organizers, issued a statement apologizing for the disaster and stating that it was conducting an investigation. The final eight concerts of the 12-concert series have been canceled, and ticket refunds will be issued.
Chris Sun, the secretary of labor and welfare, stated that his department would also conduct a comprehensive investigation and take appropriate legal action. This was not the only accident to occur since the Mirror concert series began on Monday.
The South China Morning Post stated that band member Frankie Chan unintentionally stepped off the edge of the stage on Tuesday evening. He later wrote on social media that he was bruised but generally alright after a three-foot fall.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which operates the Hong Kong Coliseum, and the Labor Department notified the event organizer on Wednesday regarding the recent accidents and asked a safety review, according to a Hong Kong government statement.
