Death toll at 151, while officials found suspected deceptive practices used by construction team

已複製連結

The Tai Po fire death toll is now at 151. A joint investigation by the police and the ICAC found that someone purchased scaffolding netting that did not meet flame-retardant standards, mixed it in to evade inspections. So far, 14 people have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, corruption, and other offenses.

The five-alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po spread with unusual speed, and questions have persisted over whether the exterior scaffolding netting met flame-retardant standards. The government had said earlier that the netting was flame-retardant, but there’s a new development two days later.

A joint task force formed by the police and the ICAC collected 20 samples in the Wang Tai, Wang Tao, Wang Yan, and Wang Chi blocks over the past few days and found that 7 samples did not meet flame-retardant standards.

The ICAC investigation believes that during Typhoon Wipha in July this year, parts of the building wrap were torn apart.

Afterwards, someone purchased about 75,000 square meters of non-flame-retardant wrap from a local supplier at $54 per roll—enough to cover eight buildings.

After the Central Chinachem building exterior scaffolding fire in mid-October, fearing spot checks, the same parties bought about 3,700 square metres of protective netting from the same supplier at $100 per roll in an attempt to cover up.

ICAC Commissioner Woo Ying-ming said, "This batch, which met flame-retardant standards, was installed at the base of each scaffold to pass off the substandard materials—successfully yielding passing results in subsequent tests."

"Colleagues from the Security Bureau, Police, Department of Justice, and the ICAC have been working around the clock to investigate and review the evidence, hoping to solve the case as soon as possible and bring justice to the deceased and residents."

The government said that the scaffold netting in the initial spot checks was compliant, but after considering feedback from various parties, they believed there were issues and therefore expanded the sampling.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang said,
"We took samples from high, middle, and low floors, not just places you can reach by opening a window. We went to locations where it’s normally very hard to obtain test samples—even spots where firefighters had to climb out to reach.
Most of the substandard material had already burned; what remained met flame-retardant capability.
As long as you break the law, there will be ways to obtain evidence. If there is evidence, you will be prosecuted."

Chief Secretary for the Administration Eric Chan said, "The methods used by those involved were extremely deceptive. They mixed compliant and non-compliant netting together."

"I can say this was a premeditated offense. It is utterly shameful. I strongly condemn those involved—just for petty profit, they caused the loss of many lives. Every colleague will pursue accountability in accordance with the law to the very end."

Police have so far arrested 12 men and 1 woman, aged 40 to 77, on suspicion of manslaughter, including a main contractor, an engineering consultancy, and subcontractors for exterior wall works and scaffolding.
The ICAC has arrested 12 people for corruption, including contractors and scaffolding foremen; 11 of them were also arrested by the police.