A Hong Kong building inspector mistook illegal alterations to emergency staircases at a housing estate ravaged in a deadly fire for protective measures on “broken” windows, because he based his assessment solely on documents and did not carry out a site visit, a public inquiry has heard. Senior maintenance surveyor Nick Yung Siu-lun, the head…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The second of three witnesses from the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU) is set to testify on Thursday at a hearing into Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades. The government-appointed independent committee will…
Government inspectors did not foresee engineering firms colluding to deceive authorities over the use of substandard renovation materials at a Hong Kong residential estate devastated in the city’s deadliest fire in decades, a public inquiry has heard. Andy Ku Siu-ping, a senior maintenance surveyor of the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit, on Wednesday blamed “systemic…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. All eyes are on the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU), whose officers are scheduled to testify before a judge-led panel on Wednesday about their role in Hong Kong’s Tai Po blaze. Senior maintenance…
The independent committee tasked with investigating Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po blaze has finished 21 sessions of evidential hearings in three rounds, pointing to multiple apparent loopholes in the supervision of the estate’s renovation project and the government’s regulation of fire hazards. The inferno broke out on November 26 last year when all eight blocks…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. An independent committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po blaze holds its 21st day of evidential hearings on Thursday, with three witnesses from the Urban Renewal Authority set to give evidence. The tragedy at…
Government surveyors failed to detect major fire risks at a housing complex destroyed in Hong Kong’s deadliest inferno in decades because they were following outdated guidelines that did not require in-person inspections of renovation works, a public inquiry has heard. The independent committee was told on Monday that illegal alterations to Wang Fuk Court’s emergency…
Hong Kong’s fire services chief has acknowledged that better communication with building authorities is needed after an independent committee earlier revealed that his officers had taken no action against possible safety breaches during renovations at Wang Fuk Court, where 168 people were killed in last year’s inferno. But Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung Yan-kin…
A public inquiry into Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has shed light on government departments’ confusion over their roles in supervising large-scale renovation projects, with a fire service official insisting his department was not responsible for handling complaints about flammable building materials because it lacked expertise in construction. Michael Yung Kam-hung, an assistant director…
Hong Kong housing authorities have spent HK$34 million (US$4.3 million) on recovery efforts following the devastating fire at Wang Fuk Court, including removing damaged scaffolding, conducting structural assessments and strengthening works. The Housing Bureau said on Thursday evening that the HK$34 million expenditure was the main reason for the 22.1 per cent increase in the…