Hong Kong Probes Building Materials After Apartment Tower Blaze Killed At Least 128

A large fire at a high-rise housing advanced in Hong Kong on Nov. 26 has triggered a territory-wide authorities evaluation of scaffolding security, constructing supplies and life-safety techniques throughout hundreds of occupied residential towers.

As of Nov. 28, following the completion of rescue operations, officers stated 128 individuals had been confirmed useless, together with a firefighter, whereas 79 others have been reported injured and about 200 are unaccounted for. 

The blaze broke out at about 2:51 p.m. native time on the Wang Fuk Courtroom property within the Tai Po district of Hong Kong, the place all eight of the 31- to 32-story towers—accomplished in 1983—have been surrounded in bamboo scaffolding and inexperienced netting for a serious renovation of exterior facades. 

Hong Kong’s Fireplace Providers Dept. stated hearth crews arrived inside 5 minutes, however flames had already engulfed scaffolding on one block and have been spreading into flats and throughout facades to different towers.

Authorities raised the response to a No. 5 alarm—the town’s highest stage—by 6:22 p.m., deploying greater than 200 hearth home equipment, about 100 ambulances and roughly 1,200 hearth and emergency providers personnel. 

Investigators continued recovery operations contained in the buildings, cautioning that the toll may rise as further flooring turn out to be accessible.

Renovation Oversight Beneath Scrutiny

As restoration work progresses, officers have turned to the property’s renovation historical past. 

Wang Fuk Courtroom, constructed within the Nineteen Eighties, is a part of Hong Kong’s Dwelling Possession Scheme, beneath which particular person unit house owners handle constructing repairs by way of an house owners’ company relatively than the Housing Authority. 

That association means the proprietor is chargeable for oversight of renovations, procurement and contractors, topic to Buildings Dept. regulation. 

Status Building & Engineering Co. Ltd. had been employed to hold out renovation work on the website now beneath investigation.

Preliminary proof reveals the fireplace began on bamboo scaffolding and protecting netting outdoors one of many blocks earlier than spreading up the outside and into flats. 

At press briefings, Hong Kong Safety Secretary Chris Tang stated the property’s hearth alarms “had not been working correctly,” and investigators are analyzing whether or not scaffold nets, tarpaulins and window-sealing supplies met required fire-retardant requirements. 

Police stated polyurethane foam used round elevator-lobby home windows is among the many supplies now present process laboratory testing.

The Buildings Dept. and the Unbiased Checking Unit of the Hong Kong Housing Bureau have ordered all registered professionals and contractors to confirm fire-retardant documentation for scaffold nets and comparable short-term supplies on energetic renovation tasks inside seven days. 

Each businesses stated they are going to observe the declarations with focused on-site audits and unbiased testing to substantiate compliance.

The Hong Kong Labour Dept. additionally launched a two-week enforcement campaign centered on unannounced inspections of scaffold-net efficiency, hot-work controls and basic website housekeeping at building and building-maintenance websites. 

“If any violations of the laws are detected in the course of the inspection train, occupational security officers will take rigorous enforcement actions, together with issuing suspension notices and enchancment notices,” a division spokesperson stated on Nov. 27. 

The division stated it can provoke prosecutions if inspectors determine vital hearth hazards, noting that the heightened enforcement is instantly tied to the Tai Po hearth and elevated dry-season dangers.

At a separate assembly with business teams, the Hong Kong Growth Bureau stated it’s reevaluating widespread reliance on bamboo scaffolding and should speed up its ongoing shift towards metallic techniques. Hong Kong is a Particular Administrative Area of the Individuals’s Republic of China.

The bureau stated it additionally plans to tighten necessities for short-term protecting nets and coverings utilized in high-rise renovations. Officers added that Status Building & Engineering is engaged on 11 different non-public housing tasks, all of which have now been inspected by the Buildings Dept.

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In parallel, the Unbiased Fee Towards Corruption shaped a devoted process pressure to research “suspected corruption” within the Wang Fuk Courtroom renovation. 

The fee stated it arrested eight individuals—together with consultants, scaffolding subcontractors and an middleman—after seizing paperwork and financial institution data from 13 areas. 

Earlier within the week, police arrested two administrators and an engineering guide from Status on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter associated to alleged use of unsafe supplies.

Authorities haven’t but issued a last ignition discovering or a full engineering evaluation, however building-safety specialists in Hong Kong say the catastrophe’s scale will probably drive vital adjustments in how getting older residential towers are renovated and monitored. 

The quick regulatory actions—mixed with ongoing felony and corruption investigations—recommend a broader reckoning over scaffold building practices, materials certification procedures and oversight of high-rise restore work carried out in densely populated, getting older housing estates in Hong Kong.

Area officers stated they are going to launch additional updates because the Buildings Dept., Fireplace Providers Dept. and police full forensic critiques in coming weeks.