Voltage dip traps people in lifts and affects hospitals on Hong Kong Island
Fire Services Department receives 90 reports of people stuck in lifts after abnormality in interconnection between both two power providers
A technical fault in the interconnection between Hong Kong’s two power providers caused a brief voltage dip on Thursday, affecting hospitals where some equipment had to be reset and resulting in about 90 reports of people trapped in lifts within a 30-minute window.
The Hospital Authority said on Thursday that the voltage dip had affected some hospitals on Hong Kong Island, requiring system resets for several medical devices.
“Each hospital immediately inspected its electrical systems, and no patient services were affected as a result,” an authority spokesman told the South China Morning Post.
He added that the cluster maintained emergency contingency plans and backup power systems, supported by regular drills and inspections to ensure a stable electricity supply and minimise the impact of any faults.
The Fire Services Department said it recorded about 90 reports of people stuck in lifts across the island between 9.23am and 9.53am. It also received 30 fire alarm reports.
HK Electric said that a 132kV switching station in North Point experienced an equipment abnormality involving an interconnection line linked to CLP Power’s grid at 9.22am.