Hong Kong authorities have slashed the time needed to send emergency mobile alerts to residents from an hour to 15 minutes under a HK$150 million (US$19 million) system, while messages can now be tailored to specific districts, the security chief has revealed. A hearing session into the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire in April had…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The head of the Fire Services Department will give evidence on the 19th day of evidential hearings into Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, becoming the most senior official to testify to date. Director…
Hong Kong’s fire services declined to activate an emergency alert during the city’s deadliest inferno in decades, citing concerns that it might have caused confusion among trapped residents, a public inquiry has heard. An independent committee investigating last year’s disaster at Wang Fuk Court was also told on Thursday that the system, which would have…
Victims of domestic abuse could be at risk during this weekend’s emergency alert test across the UK, campaigners have warned. At 3pm on Sunday 7 September, the government will carry out a test of the system, causing phones on 4G and 5G networks to vibrate, emit a siren for up to 10 seconds and display…
A 10-second ‘Armageddon alert’ siren will sound on millions of UK mobile phones later this year as part of a test of the government’s emergency alert system. The emergency alert is used to warn if there is a danger to life nearby, in instances like extreme weather. The alert has been scheduled to take place…