Labour Dept. investigates fatal accident at Tung Chung gov’t housing construction site

Hong Kong’s Labour Department has opened an investigation into a fatal accident in which a construction worker died after falling from a height. The construction site on Wui Tung Street in Tung Chung on October 7, 2026. Photo: Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, via Facebook. Police received a report just before 1:45pm on Wednesday that a worker fell from over 10 storeys at a construction site on Wui Tung Street in Tung Chung. The man, a 34-year-old surnamed Chin, was rushed to North Lantau Hospital, where he was certified dead. Police said he fell from the 13th floor. In a statement issued on Wednesday night, the Labour Department said it had suspended the contractors concerned and was investigating the accident. The worker was dismantling a working platform on an external wall of a building under construction when he fell, the department said. “We will complete the investigation as soon as possible to identify the cause of the accident, ascertain the liability of duty holders and recommend improvement measures,” it added. 21st fatal accident this year The Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims (ARIAV) said it had met the worker’s family at the hospital and was offering them support. It added that this was the 21st fatal accident in the construction sector this year, and was the 10th involving a fall from height. A construction site. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The NGO said it was understood that the construction site where the accident happened was a Housing Authority project, and that this was the sixth fatal work accident this year linked to a government project. According to architect firm Hsin Yieh, Yu Fung Court – an estate under the Home Ownership Scheme – is being built at the site. The project contractor is China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, a Chinese state-owned company. The ARIAV recorded 51 fatal work accidents in the construction sector in 2025, according to its annual review. Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps Make a one-off donation. Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong. More by Hillary Leung