Hong Kong public housing construction stops as emergency exit at MTR station sinks by 20mm
- Passengers assured rail operations safe and unaffected but measures will be put in place to ease problem
- Legislator voices concern that there will be six construction sites doing work in the area in near future
Part of the piling works of a Hong Kong public housing estate has been halted after it was blamed for the sinking of an emergency exit at a nearby MTR station.
A settlement monitoring checkpoint installed at an emergency exit at the MTR Sung Wong Toi station on the Tuen Ma line found it had sunk by 20mm (0.8 inches) on Monday, triggering the suspension of piling works within 30 metres (98 feet) of the facility.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said the MTR Corporation and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department had confirmed that rail operations at the site were safe.
“The [department] and MTR Corp will continue to look at the incoming data to ensure that continued rail operation would be safe,” Lam said.
He also pledged the authorities would ensure the construction site had introduced measures to ease the problem before work was allowed to resume.
