This is a relatively rare photo of the Hong Kong Island western district mid-level before the disastrous June 1972 landslide. Most of the photos of this area were taken after the landsli de. Based on the stage of constructions of some of high rises in this photo, I would make an educated guess that it was taken in late 1970 to early 1971 when Alpine Court was almost completed but the scuffle had not been removed. What makes this photo so precious is that it captures the 12 -story Kotewall Court (No 38-40 Kotewall Road) before it collapsed during the June 1972 HK island mid-level landslide. There are not that many photos of Kotewall Court before the collapse. Though this photo is a bit grainy, it shows the location of Kotewall Court at Kotewall Road in relation to other high rises in the general area. Kotewall Court is marked A in the attached photo.
Despite the fact that the June 1972 landslide took place almost 55 years ago, I still have a vivid memory of what had happened on that fateful night as I lived only a few high rises away from Kotewall Court. I remember it was a Sunday night before 8:30 to 9:00pm. I was in my room listening to the radio. It was a rainy night and the sky was already dark and the street lights at Kotewall Road were already on. Then I heard a loud rumbling noise lasting about 5 to 10 seconds and the building shook. After another 2-3 minutes, I started to see mud water coming down from Kotewall road and the street lights went off. Then, I heard some voices from the street trying to find out what had happened. Another 10 to 15 minutes passed and the police cars and ambulances came with the usual siren on and flashing red lights. I still did not know what was going on. I thought might be another mudslide in the neighborhoods. Not until my family went down to the building security to inquire did we realize that Kotewall Court had collapsed. In June 1966, another big landslide took place not far away and, it was at the slope next to the top HKU student hostel (May Hall) resulting in collapsing the footpath connecting Lyttleton Road and the HKU campus but without any loss of life. This 1966 landslide area is marked B in the photo. The landslide area was patched up with concrete and part of the student hostel buildings (May Hall, Eliot Hall, and Lugard Hall) had to be dismantled to ensure safety. The concrete patch can be clearly seen in the photo next to the red-brick HKU student hostel buildings.
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Kotewall Court
This is a relatively rare photo of the Hong Kong Island western district mid-level before the disastrous June 1972 landslide. Most of the photos of this area were taken after the landsli de. Based on the stage of constructions of some of high rises in this photo, I would make an educated guess that it was taken in late 1970 to early 1971 when Alpine Court was almost completed but the scuffle had not been removed. What makes this photo so precious is that it captures the 12 -story Kotewall Court (No 38-40 Kotewall Road) before it collapsed during the June 1972 HK island mid-level landslide. There are not that many photos of Kotewall Court before the collapse. Though this photo is a bit grainy, it shows the location of Kotewall Court at Kotewall Road in relation to other high rises in the general area. Kotewall Court is marked A in the attached photo.
Despite the fact that the June 1972 landslide took place almost 55 years ago, I still have a vivid memory of what had happened on that fateful night as I lived only a few high rises away from Kotewall Court. I remember it was a Sunday night before 8:30 to 9:00pm. I was in my room listening to the radio. It was a rainy night and the sky was already dark and the street lights at Kotewall Road were already on. Then I heard a loud rumbling noise lasting about 5 to 10 seconds and the building shook. After another 2-3 minutes, I started to see mud water coming down from Kotewall road and the street lights went off. Then, I heard some voices from the street trying to find out what had happened. Another 10 to 15 minutes passed and the police cars and ambulances came with the usual siren on and flashing red lights. I still did not know what was going on. I thought might be another mudslide in the neighborhoods. Not until my family went down to the building security to inquire did we realize that Kotewall Court had collapsed. In June 1966, another big landslide took place not far away and, it was at the slope next to the top HKU student hostel (May Hall) resulting in collapsing the footpath connecting Lyttleton Road and the HKU campus but without any loss of life. This 1966 landslide area is marked B in the photo. The landslide area was patched up with concrete and part of the student hostel buildings (May Hall, Eliot Hall, and Lugard Hall) had to be dismantled to ensure safety. The concrete patch can be clearly seen in the photo next to the red-brick HKU student hostel buildings.