An Indonesian domestic worker has become the latest victim of a string of incidents in Hong Kong involving objects being thrown from buildings.
The woman was hit by a broom on Amoy Street in Wan Chai district on Thursday noon. The unlucky woman sustained bruises and flesh wounds and was sent to a hospital for treatment after she contacted police.
Police were unable to discover who dropped the broom, which appears to have come from the upper floors of nearby tenement blocks.
In recent years Hong Kong has seen a spate of similar cases where objects ranging from a corrosive fluid to choppers to even refrigerators were thrown from a height onto packed pedestrian precincts below.
Police have waged campaigns to educate residents on the hazards of falling objects. Residents were also urged to remove potted plants or items placed outside their flats to prevent them from falling.
Closed-circuit television monitoring systems have also been installed outside high-rise blocks at some public rental housing estates to deter such acts and gather evidence for prosecution.
Thursday’s incident with the broom was not the first time a foreign domestic worker was hit by a falling object on the city’s streets.
In a slightly unrelated accident in August, a 30-year-old Indonesian was killed after being hit by a falling tree branch while she was waiting for a bus on New Clear Water Bay Road in Kowloon.
She was rushed to the United Christian Hospital, but was later pronounced dead.
The Fire Services Department said the tree branch that fell on her was three metres long and 15 centimeters thick. After further inspection, firemen removed three other branches from the tree.