An independent committee examining the causes of Hong Kong’s deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze will delay submitting its final report to late October, a month later than expected, citing the need for more time to review documents, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source confirmed to the SCMP on Saturday that the judge-led…
Some residents displaced by Hong Kong’s deadliest inferno in decades have called for merging the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU) with the Buildings Department, after a public inquiry revealed regulatory failures linked to communication problems between the two arms with similar functions. In recommendations submitted to the independent committee investigating the Wang Fuk Court…
An independent inquiry into Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po fire has concluded after examining more than 1 million files and hearing from 80 witnesses across 30 public sessions, uncovering the causes of the blaze that killed 168 people. The panel, chaired by Justice David Lok Kai-hong, wrapped up its hearings on Friday after proceedings that…
Hong Kong delivery company Lalamove and professional services firm EY have joined forces and jumped on the “low-altitude economy” bandwagon in the hopes of expanding their reach in the Greater Bay Area and transforming conventional business. The companies told the South China Morning Post that the collaboration would leverage Lalamove’s logistics platform and EY’s services…
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…
An administrative “honour system” that relied on Hong Kong’s private sector to regulate itself created oversight loopholes and left obvious fire hazards at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate unchecked before last year’s inferno, legal counsel for an independent committee investigating the disaster has said. In the final session of 30 days of public hearings,…
The South China Morning Post has documented Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po blaze in a series of multimedia projects, from detailing the search and rescue mission to examining evidence revealed at public hearings set up to investigate the cause of the inferno. The fire, which engulfed the Wang Fuk Court residential complex last November, claimed…
Some Hong Kong workers have said they intend to quit smoking as a new ban on smoking at construction sites came into force on Friday. The ban came in the wake of the deadly fire at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court housing estate, a disaster that killed 168 people last November and was suspected to…
Legal counsel for an independent panel investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will deliver its closing remarks at the final public inquiry session on Friday. The 600-page closing statement is expected to cover the causes of the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, as well as the roles and responsibilities of each…
Hong Kong authorities’ role in last year’s deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze was secondary to that of construction and fire service firms, which either conspired to circumvent supervision or neglected their statutory duties, a government counsel has argued. Wrapping up the government’s arguments at an independent committee inquiry into the tragedy, Jenkin Suen SC on…