Domestic helper hit by knife dropped from scaffolding

A 55-year-old domestic worker was hit on the back of her head by a 25-centimeter long folding knife as she was walking through the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong Island on Monday.

At about 10am, the maid was hit on Stone Nullah Lane, where a building was under renovation, after she bought a long-handled dustpan from Wan Chai Market, Sing Tao Daily reported Tuesday. She was bleeding from the back of her head but managed to call the police.

The police took away a man who was working from scaffolding on the outer-wall of a building. After an initial investigation, they concluded that the knife — the blade of which had been folded away —  might have fallen from the worker’s pocket.

The maid was still holding her employer’s new dustpan when the ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital.

Builders and their workers face a maximum HK$50,000 (US$6,400) fine and one-year’s imprisonment if any falling object from their sites cause damage to public places or injure people, Oriental Daily reported, citing a lawyer.