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Man's arm extinguished

A Hong Kong demolition worker's arm was ripped off by a fire extinguisher that rocketed 12-storeys into the air after exploding.

Police said the accident happened when the 36-year-old worker checked on the fire extinguisher on the third floor of a building undergoing demolition.

Gas suddenly discharged from the unit, and the 96 kilogram extinguisher exploded.

It then shot 12 storeys in the air from the third floor and smashed a window on the 15th floor of an adjoining tower block, dislodging chunks of concrete before plummeting back to the demolition site below, according to the South China Morning Post.

The freak accident tore off the worker's left arm. Police and firemen searched in vain for the limb but could only find his palm.

"The cylinder was leaking gas and kept turning around and round on the floor. We could see it shoot to a unit on the 15th floor of the building, breaking the window and bouncing back to the original position," divisional fire commander Yung Kin-kwok was quoted as saying.

A 54-year-old passerby was also injured in the accident.

The demolition worker and passerby were both treated in a hospital on Monday night.

The demolition site was the remains of the Garley Building in which 40 people died in a fire eight years ago.

Posted by thinkum at June 30, 2004 12:56 PM