Local musician dies in freakish onstage accident

Taiwanese musician Huang Chien-fu (黃建福) died after falling down an onstage ladder during a New Year's Eve pop concert in Beijing, media reports said yesterday.

Huang, 36, was performing at the Saturday night show, which also featured Taiwanese pop singer Chi Chin (齊秦), Taiwan's ETTV Cable News reported.

"The ladder has only seven stairs," Chi said in the report. "We frequently fall down ladders during performances. We never, never expected such a thing could happen."

The accident occurred when Huang was singing a duet with Chi, who was in front of Huang and did not immediately realize that he had fallen, the United Evening News reported.

Huang won the best songwriter award at the 2004 Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival for the film Dream Tribe.

His sister, whose name was not given, said in the ETTV report that relatives regretted that Huang had to be cremated in Beijing according to Chinese rules.

"My mom wanted his body sent home so she could see him for the last time," she said.