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 of the Fire Services Department, said on Wednesday it would not take legal action against breaches...
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 owners’ corporation management committee as a member in September in 2024, when chairman Tang Kwok-kuen was voted out and replaced by Tony Tsui...
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 decades, with a former chairman of the body and a construction worker set to testify. In an earlier session, residents accused Tai Po district councillor Peggy Wong...
Two renovation subcontractors involved in a HK$336 million (US$42.9 million) project at a subsidised estate ravaged by Hong Kong’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 Wang Fuk Court’s evacuation passages with movable wooden boards to allow workers’ easy access to scaffolding at the behest of main...