About eight per cent of homeowners at the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong have yet to accept the government’s buy-back offer, which is set to expire at the end of this month. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Sunday that 91.9 per cent of owners had submitted acceptance letters, while 65.7 per…
A fire has broken out at a flat in a Hong Kong housing estate, resulting in at least 12 people feeling unwell from the effects of smoke and residents fleeing to the rooftop for safety. The blaze erupted at Begonia Mansion in Taikoo Shing’s Harbour View Gardens on Sunday afternoon, with smoke pouring from a…
Changing the smoking culture on the city’s construction sites will “take time”, Hong Kong’s labour commissioner has said as authorities completed 1,200 site inspections and issued 36 fixed-penalty notices in the first two weeks of a smoking ban at such locations. Commissioner for Labour Sam Hui Chark-shum said on Saturday that Labour Department officials also…
The administrator of the fire-hit Hong Kong estate is still settling contracts and gradually issuing refunds to owners after organising tens of thousands of documents, the city’s home affairs minister has said in response to residents’ concerns. Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said on Saturday that Hop On Management Company, the…
A Hong Kong woman has been arrested for allegedly stealing electricity after a fire broke out in her Mong Kok flat, killing three cats and two dogs. Investigators said on Friday that the 56-year-old, surnamed Chan, had left her Tung Choi Street flat at about 6pm the previous day with the air conditioner switched on….
The legal team for an independent committee examining the cause of Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po fire has recommended that authorities gradually phase out bamboo scaffolding in favour of metal replacements, among other proposals ranging from legislative reform to measures to curb bid-rigging. The suggestions were outlined in 627 pages of closing submissions from the…
Hong Kong authorities have officially extended a buy-back offer to the only residential block spared in the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze after more than three-quarters of households indicated their intention to sell their flats to the government. Owners of 78 per cent of the flats in the other seven blocks at the Tai Po…
A 50-year-old woman died and three other people were hospitalised after a fire in a Hong Kong flat on Friday that authorities said was caused by a malfunctioning power strip. Police said the blaze broke out at Valiant Court in Ho Man Tin at around 10.04am. Fire services were immediately deployed to the scene and…
An independent committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has ruled out seeking statutory powers to compel witnesses to testify, a move that has left some survivors concerned that key figures may avoid scrutiny. Committee chairman Justice David Lok Kai-hong said the panel would not ask the chief executive to convert it into a…
Factoring Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po fire into a civil service pay review has dealt a blow to staff morale and risks creating perceptions of populism, unions have warned, saying a proposed 2 per cent across-the-board rise fails to offset inflation or reflect overall performance. Human resources experts, however, said public sentiment had to be…