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…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. More Wang Fuk Court residents and senior staff at two engineering firms are set to testify on Thursday for the 13th day of an evidential hearing into Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades. Justice…
Former salesman Raymond Chong Wai-man, 61, pleaded guilty on Tuesday at West Kowloon Court to knowingly publishing 53 seditious Facebook posts that denigrated the central and local authorities between March 26, 2024 and November 29 last year. Chong, a father of two, drew official ire after commenting on the inferno in Tai Po that engulfed…
A resident of Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po has said that a drawer in her flat had been rummaged through, prompting a police investigation and rekindling burglary fears in the sealed residential complex. Police launched the probe after a resident surnamed Lee raised concerns about a possible burglary early…
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. A judge-led panel investigating the causes of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, which killed 168 people in Tai Po, concluded its 12th day of evidential hearings on Wednesday. Representatives from the Fire Services…
A Hong Kong fire services official has defended a decision to decline mainland Chinese firefighters’ help to combat the city’s deadliest inferno in decades, citing concerns they might be unable to immediately adapt to the new environment and effectively communicate with their local counterparts. On the 12th day of a public evidential hearing on Wednesday,…
Hong Kong authorities have proposed a legal amendment requiring property owners to attend a mandatory briefing on major renovation projects before voting on procurement resolutions, in a move aimed at curbing bid-rigging following the deadly blaze in Tai Po. Speaking on a radio programme on Saturday, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen…
Hong Kong authorities conducted no fire risk assessment of a HK$336 million (US$42.9 million) Wang Fuk Court renovation project before the city’s deadliest fire in decades ravaged the site, a public inquiry has heard. Sam Keung Sai-ming, an assistant director of the Fire Services Department’s licensing and certification branch, said on Friday that authorities did…
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…