Worker dies on film lot to be used for Martin Scorsese movie

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Worker dies on film lot to be used for Martin Scorsese movie

Contractor dies and two others injured when scaffolding collapses

PUBLISHED : Friday, 30 January, 2015, 11:25am
UPDATED : Friday, 30 January, 2015, 11:26am

Associated Press in Taipei

Martin Scorsese, left, directs Leonardo DiCaprio in a scene from The Aviator. Scorsese is directing a new film, Silence, in Taiwan. Photo: Reuters

A worker was killed in an accident Thursday at a Taiwanese film lot during preparations for the shooting of a new Martin Scorsese movie, local media reported.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency said Chen Yu-lung was killed and two other men were injured when scaffolding around a building suddenly collapsed. All three were Taiwanese contractors hired by the film’s producers.

The lot belongs to the Chinese Culture and Movie Centre, which issued a statement saying the contracting film crew bore responsibility for health and safety in the accident.

The news agency said shooting had not yet begun on the movie, a historical drama titled Silence, about two Jesuit priests in 17th century Japan, based on a 1966 novel by Japanese author Shusaku Endo. The cast includes Liam Neeson and Andrew Garfield of the Amazing Spider-Man.

Scorsese is in Taiwan to shoot the film, but it wasn’t known if he was on the set.

Leslee Dart, the spokeswoman for the film, said an existing structure on the backlot of the studios had been deemed unsafe, and a third-party contractor was hired to reinforce it.

“Sadly, during this process, the ceiling collapsed, resulting in the death of one of the contractor’s employees and injuries to two others,” she said in a statement.