Stories filled with tragic bravery, outrage at heedless officials and horror as loved ones perished were among those shared by 24 residents of the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court estate, as they testified at a public hearing investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades. Over multiple sessions that began on March 19, some told the presiding…
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major fire risks at a housing complex destroyed in Hong Kong’s deadliest inferno in decades because they were following outdated guidelines that did not require in-person inspections of renovation works, a public inquiry has heard.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…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. An inquiry into Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will commence its third set of public evidential hearings on Monday. The sole witness to testify on the day, Kong Cheung-fat, was re-elected into the…
The owners’ corporation of a Hong Kong housing complex devastated in the city’s deadliest fire in decades failed to convince renovation workers to use fire-resistant materials due to the absence of statutory requirements, a public inquiry heard. Tony Tsui Moon-come, chairman of the management committee of the incorporated owners of Wang Fuk Court at the…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The role of the management committee of Wang Fuk Court owners’ corporation is expected to be a key focus on Friday of a hearing by an independent panel investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in…
Two renovation subcontractors involved in a HK$336 million (US$42.9 million) project at a Hong Kong subsidised estate ravaged by the city’s deadliest fire in decades have conceded they did not regulate workers’ smoking behaviour before the inferno. The two engineering firms on Thursday also told an independent committee that they had partially replaced fireproof windows…
At least two bid-rigging syndicates could be linked to the HK$336 million (US$43 million) renovation bid for a housing estate destroyed in Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, a lawyer for the competition watchdog has said at the fourth session of an evidential hearing. Lester Lee Hiu-leung, the Competition Commission’s executive director for legal services,…
Hong Kong district councillors have proposed building residential blocks on a Tai Po site reserved for public housing to resettle residents displaced by last year’s deadly fire, with about 1,300 flats expected by 2030. Lo Hiu-fung, chairman of Tai Po district council’s newly set up working group on building management, also said he would convene…
Tai Po district councillors have urged the government to expedite rebuilding plans and offer Wang Fuk Court residents a range of rehousing options after Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, as officials pledged to weigh the pros and cons of each proposal. At the first meeting of Tai Po District Council since the fire on…