The seventh session of the independent inquiry into last year’s fire at Wang Fuk Court – Hong Kong’s deadliest in decades – is under way with the focus turning to ISS EastPoint, the estate’s property management firm.
The blaze, which started on November 26 last year and raged through seven of Wang Fuk Court’s eight towers for about 43 hours, killed 168 people and displaced nearly 5,000 residents.
ISS clerk Lok Sin-ying, who was stationed at the estate, is to resume testimony on Wednesday morning before the judge-led committee.
On Tuesday, Lok told the committee she was unaware of the fire alarm system’s deactivation despite handling related shutdown notices.
Witnesses that are scheduled to appear on Wednesday include other ISS EastPoint employees, including a building attendant, a technical officer, a carpenter and an electrician.
The deactivation of the fire alarm was one of the six factors behind the tragedy flagged by the committee’s legal team’s lead counsel, Victor Dawes SC, during his two-day opening statement.
Follow our live updates on the seventh session of the evidential hearing.
Reporting by Leopold Chen
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