Senior civil servants are among scores of witnesses to be cross-examined by an independent committee set up to probe the cause of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades in a string of open hearings expected to take around two months, the South China Morning Post has learned.
The committee tasked to investigate the fire, which claimed 168 lives in the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po, will hold its first meeting on Thursday morning at the City Gallery in Central to discuss arrangements for subsequent hearings and lay down the road map of the probe.
Wang Fuk Court residents who scrambled to secure tickets for the 400 seats reserved for the public said on Wednesday they hoped the investigation would identify the parties responsible for the fire and hold them accountable.
An insider said the hearings would start in mid-March and were expected to run until May, with most of the sessions open to the public.
“Given the public interest, the public should be able to follow what’s going on,” the insider said.
It was anticipated that representatives of various government departments would be among the witnesses invited to give their testimonies – and be cross-examined – by lawyers for the committee.
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