The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) said in a statement last night that a drone crashed into the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ruins of St Paul’s.
A drone is formally known as an unmanned aerial vehicle.
The St Paul’s Ruins monument is officially listed as a cultural heritage site. The façade dating back to 1640 is one of Macau’s most popular tourist attractions.
After a preliminary check, IC officials confirmed that the monument did not sustain any “obvious” damage in the incident, the IC statement said, adding that the bureau would carry out a detailed examination this morning.
At around 7 p.m. yesterday, security guards working for the bureau discovered that a drone had crashed into “a stone arch on the second level” of the St Paul’s Ruins, the IC statement said, adding that the guards then notified the bureau of the incident.
IC officials went to scene and also called the police, the IC statement said.
No one was injured in the accident, the IC statement said.
The drone equipped with an aerial photography function had been operated by a tourist from the mainland, who was taken in for questioning by the police, the IC statement, which did not mention the tourist’s gender, said.
According to local Chinese-language media reports last night, the drone encountered signal failure after which it crashed into the monument. The crash reportedly happened when the operator failed to fly the drone through one of the windows of the façade.
The Public Security Police (PSP) identified the person operating the drone as a 23-year-old male tourist from the mainland. The police also told the local media last night that the man had failed to apply for a permit from the local authorities to take photos with the drone.
A fireman stands in front of the Ruins of St Paul’s during an official investigation of last night’s drone crash into the UNESCO World Heritage-listed monument.
A policeman last night holds the drone that had crashed into the monument. Photos: MPDG
