Falling screen injures dancers on stage at Hong Kong concert – NBC10 Philadelphia

Hong Kong officials said Friday they would launch an investigation into a concert accident in which a giant video screen fell onto the stage and injured two dancers.

Footage from Cantopop group Mirror’s concert on Thursday night showed a huge LED screen suspended above the stage falling down, landing squarely on one dancer before toppling onto another as the audience screamed in horror.

Both injured performers were taken to hospital and one of the dancers is in a “serious condition”.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said Friday that authorities would “thoroughly investigate the incident” and review security requirements for future performances, according to a government statement.

He also said the government would help family members of one of the injured dancers travel from Canada to Hong Kong to see him.

The organizer of the MakerVille concert said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened” by the injuries to the two performers and that it would cooperate with authorities in the investigation.

“If we discover anything suspicious, or if any individual or unit is involved in wrongdoing, we will immediately report it to the police,” the statement said.

Authorities also revealed their initial findings after inspecting the exhibition venue – the Hong Kong Coliseum – on Friday. Thursday’s concert was the fourth of 12 planned Mirror concerts, for which tens of thousands of fans bought tickets.

Culture, Sport and Tourism Minister Kevin Jung told reporters on Friday that the government was “very concerned” about the incident and that an investigation would likely take several weeks.

“We will conduct an investigation to find out whether the (steel cable) broke due to operational or material issues. It cannot currently be done at this stage,” He said, adding that the incident would affect “all future performances”.

Authorities will also try to determine whether security improvements are needed at other venues for upcoming performances to minimize the chance of a similar incident happening again, Yeung said.

Labor Department officials collected evidence at the scene and will work to determine who is responsible for the incident, Labor and Welfare Minister Chris Sun said.

He said all activity under the remaining suspended screens at the site would be halted and organizers would work with government officials to determine how best to safely remove the suspended screens.

The 12-piece band Mirror has skyrocketed in popularity in Hong Kong and is credited with the revival of Cantopop.

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AP news assistant Carmen Lee contributed to this report.