Two Hong Kong men are lucky to escape serious injury when an enclosed balcony collapsed in their subdivided flat in a 61-year-old building in Hung Hom in Kowloon early Wednesday morning after heavy rainfall.
Police and firefighters helped evacuate 22 residents from the six-story building at 50 Gillies Avenue South and no one was injured.
A 65-year-old man had been asleep on the bottom bunk of a bed when he was woken at 2am by loud noises and the floor beneath him shaking, Metro Daily reported. His roommate told him to quickly get up and leave just as the floor gave way, leaving a large amount of concrete on the ground. The men’s bed was hanging from what remained of the balcony.
The Buildings Department later confirmed that there was a need to remove the balconies on the first, second and third floors of the old building, Apple Daily reported.
Many years ago, Henderson Land Development appointed Richfield Group Holdings purchase the building and had acquired 80%, which allowed the property developer to file an application to the Lands Tribunal last November that would force any remaining owners to sell their flats.
Henderson Land also owned 80% of two adjacent buildings in Gillies Avenue South.