A spokesman for the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) said today (April 9) that the EMSD is investigating a lift incident that occurred at Seaview Mansion in Mid-Levels yesterday (April 8). 
 
     The EMSD received at around 5pm yesterday a report about a lift entrapment and suspected rope breakage incident occurred at Seaview Mansion in the morning of the same day. A passenger was trapped in the lift and suffered a sprained foot, and was rescued by firemen and sent to hospital for treatment. The concerned lift has ceased operation after the incident.
 
     The EMSD officers conducted an on-site investigation this morning. Preliminary findings revealed that one of the three flat suspension belts of the concerned lift was broken and the lift car stopped near the third floor. To ensure public safety, the EMSD inspected the remaining two lifts of the same type in the building and confirmed that they are safe to operate.
 
     The lift concerned is maintained by Schindler Lifts (Hong Kong) Ltd. The EMSD has requested the company to submit an incident report within seven working days. The investigation of the cause of the incident by the EMSD is on-going.

     The Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Ms Louise Ho, today (April 9) led a delegation to visit Zhengzhou, Henan Province, and met with the Director General in Zhengzhou Customs District, Mr Wang Jun, and the Deputy Director General of the Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC), Mr Feng Guoqing, to have in-depth discussions and exchanges on the feasibility of extending the Single E-lock Scheme to Henan Province.
      
     Ms Ho said that Henan Province has been strengthening co-operation with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in recent years and is further broadening its connection and exchanges with the GBA. Henan Province and Hong Kong have long been maintaining a close economic and trade relation. In 2023, the total value of goods imported and exported between Henan Province and Hong Kong amounted to RMB24.25 billion, reflecting the huge business potential in the logistics industry between the two places.
      
     Looking ahead, Ms Ho said she hoped the Single E-lock Scheme would extend to Henan Province to give full play to strengths of the Scheme and enhance the efficiency of the cross-boundary logistics. Taking into account Hong Kong's safe and efficient supply chains and the role as an international logistics hub, the scheme can further promote Henan's products to the international market.
      
     Zhengzhou Customs District expressed that it will deepen co-operation with Hong Kong Customs and jointly promote trade facilitation between Henan Province and Hong Kong in accordance with the work plan of the Party Committee of the GACC, so as to serve functions and roles of customs in contributing to the close economic and trade relations between the two places.
      
     The Single E-lock Scheme is currently implemented in Guangdong Province and Hunan Province. Under the Scheme, duplicated inspection of the same consignment by the two Customs administrations is reduced on the principle of "Across the Boundary with One Single E-lock under Separate Monitoring", which streamlines the clearance process and expedites the flow of cargo transshipment.
      
     Ms Ho today also visited Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport and the China-Europe Railway Express Dispatch and Command Centre to study the latest developments of international air cargo logistics and the China-Europe Railway Express respectively.
      
     Ms Ho will conclude her visit and return to Hong Kong tomorrow (April 10).

      

     The No. 3 alarm fire which broke out at a construction site on Hung Nga Road, Tin Shui Wai today (April 9) was upgraded to No. 4 alarm at 9.31pm.

     Firemen used seven jets and mobilised two breathing apparatus teams to fight the blaze.

     No casualties have been reported so far.

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (April 8) detected a dangerous drugs internal concealment case involving two incoming passengers at Hong Kong International Airport and seized about 1 kilogram of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $1 million.
      
     A 37-year-old male passenger and a 41-year-old female passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Paris, France, yesterday. During customs clearance, Customs officers suspected that the passengers had dangerous drugs concealed inside their body cavities. They were then escorted to the hospital for examination.
      
     Upon examination, they were confirmed by a doctor to have foreign objects concealed inside their body cavities. They were arrested immediately. As at 8pm today (April 9), the arrested persons have discharged 120 pellets of suspected cocaine weighing about 1 kilogram in total.
      
     The arrested persons have been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug respectively. The case will be brought up at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (April 10).
      
     Following the resumption of normal travel and exchanges with the Mainland and other parts of the world, the number of visitors to Hong Kong has also been increasing steadily. Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.
      
     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002/).

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) delegation visited Shanghai and Hangzhou on April 8 and 9 to promote healthcare talents exchange and collaboration. The delegation also visited medical schools of three universities with recognised medical qualifications to promote various registration pathways for non-locally trained doctors to work and exchange in Hong Kong in order to build up the healthcare talent pool in Hong Kong.

     The delegation visited the Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM) in Shanghai, and the Zhejiang University School of Medicine (ZUSM) in Hangzhou respectively. During the visits, the delegation has introduced the Global Healthcare Talent Scheme and various exchange programmes, and received briefings on the curriculum of medical education by respective universities. The delegation also visited the Renji Hospital, SJTUSM and the First Affiliated Hospital, ZUSM to learn the latest developments of healthcare institutions and technology in the Mainland.

     The HA Chief Executive, Dr Tony Ko said, "The universities we visited offer medical qualification courses that are recognised by the Special Registration Committee. By promoting mutual exchange, we hope to let more Mainland medical students learn the working environment in Hong Kong's public hospitals, with an aim to expand the talent pool of public healthcare system in the region to cope with the growing service demand."

     The delegation also met with the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission to explore and to strengthen the mutual exchange of healthcare talents between Hong Kong and the Mainland, and to implement relevant arrangement in a pragmatic and orderly manner.

     Dr Ko said that, apart from local healthcare talents, to dovetail with and support the national development strategy of deepening co-operations between Hong Kong and the Mainland, the HA is also enhancing exchanges with healthcare talents in different Mainland cities in terms of depth and breadth, so that healthcare talents can leverage on respective strengths on a complementary principle to further improve the level of medical services of Hong Kong.