Hong Kong leader apologises and housing minister resigns after fire investigation exposes failures

Hong Kong leader John Lee apologised Thursday and said his housing secretary resigned after an investigation into the city’s deadliest fire in decades found inadequate regulatory oversight.

The massive fire that broke out last November engulfed seven buildings in an apartment complex in a northern suburban district, killing 168 people and displacing thousands of others.

Many former residents of Wang Fuk Court have spent nearly a year waiting to see how the government will address accountability for the disaster that claimed their loved ones and their homes, which were then undergoing building maintenance work. 

At the opening of the news conference, Lee and seven other top officials bowed in apology. Lee said Housing Secretary Winnie Ho “should bear political responsibility," although no personal wrongdoing was found. He said Ho had resigned Wednesday. 

Hong Kong fire sparks anger and demands for answers

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An independent committee found that the Housing Bureau’s independent checking unit failed in its duties supervising the maintenance work. Lee said the Buildings Department, the Fire Services Department and the Labour Department had shortcomings in supervision over fire hazards of the apartment complex.

He said a three-month investigation will be conducted into the four government agencies to determine whether staff were derelict in their duties. 

Officials also proposed a series of measures, including criminalising bid rigging. 

Read moreHong Kong leader orders probe into deadly blaze that killed 151

The committee's report said evidence pointed to a lighted cigarette being the cause of the fire, which started on the flat roof between two apartments on the first floor of Wang Cheong House. The committee heard substantial evidence that construction workers had smoked on site, including on the scaffolding, while a few cigarette butts and some partially burnt materials, such as cardboard boxes, were found on the flat roof. 

Experts found the use of foam boards, non-fire-retardant scaffolding nets and canvases contributed to the fire’s spread, among other factors, the report said. 

A majority of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation rather than burns. The replacement of some staircase windows with movable aluminum composite panels or wooden boards for workers’ convenience allowed smoke to infiltrate residents’ escape routes. Opaque foam boards that covered the apartments’ windows blocked residents’ views, delaying evacuation. The shutdown of the fire alarm system was also a factor in the heavy death toll. 

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The committee said evidence clearly demonstrated that Will Power Architects Company, the consultant for the maintenance project, and Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., the main contractor on the project, had cut corners. 

“There is no doubt that they are the main culprits responsible for the occurrence of the inferno and the high fatalities in the tragic incident,” the report said. 

Read moreHong Kong panel hears safety measures failed on day of deadly fire

It said the evidence also revealed an array of registered contractors and building professionals who conducted no substantive work and were only asked to lend their names to “rubber-stamp” statutory forms in return for a fee. The private contractors and consultants had deceived the regulators, it said.

“However ... deception succeeded because the regulators’ own practices enabled it,” the report said. “In each case, the regulator’s reliance on the good faith of the regulated parties left obvious fire hazards uninvestigated.”

Read moreResidents return to ravaged homes months after Hong Kong fire

The committee found that the Housing Bureau’s independent checking unit and the Buildings Department, as the two agencies primarily responsible for supervising the execution of the maintenance work at Wang Fuk Court, had failed in their supervisory duties in ensuring the safety of such work. Among the shortcomings were the lack of proper investigations into the use of the foam boards and the fire-retardant quality of the scaffolding nets despite multiple complaints. The Independent Checking Unit should be criticised for adopting the practice of giving prenotification to consultants and contractors about site inspections, it added.

The committee's work is separate from criminal investigations in which seven people and two companies, Will Power and Prestige, were charged with offenses including manslaughter and conspiracy to defraud over the fire. 

Authorities alleged that the two companies and some defendants conspired together to defraud the apartment owners by concealing previous litigation records of the company later awarded the renovation project, a contract worth more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars (over $38 million).