Hong Kong orders construction inspections after deadly fire
18 November, 2020
Hong Kong authorities will inspect 2,500 older home buildings after a deadly fire killed seven people on what an elected official said might have been an unlicensed restaurant working in an apartment.
The fire and building departments will aim to complete the review by year-end, a government news release said on Monday (Nov 16) evening. The inspection covers buildings at least 60 years old and include those that are part-residential, part-commercial.
"In light of the hazards exposed by this fire accident, I own asked the (fire services and building departments) to further intensify inspections to eradicate serious fire safety threats to safeguard people's lives and house," Hong Kong head Carrie Lam said.
The Sunday night fire killed seven persons and injured 11 others. Ten persons stay hospitalised, seven in vital condition, the news launch explained. The dead and injured range in time from 8 to 48 years old.
The apartment where in fact the fire started might have been operating as an unlicensed restaurant, based on the area's district council member, Leslie Chan. He explained the victims were from the city's Nepalese network.
Hong Kong media studies said people in the restaurant were celebrating Deepavali, a significant Hindu festival, as well as a birthday. Candles place soundproofing materials burning, based on the reports.
Many Nepalese are in the region and work on Hong Kong's finance, retail and security businesses.
The building, which is in the Yau Ma Tei neighbourhood in Kowloon, lacked a sprinkler system and persons were trapped in the rear of the kitchen, Fire Companies Department officer Cheung Kwong-yuen said.
Hong Kong media explained the fire was the deadliest since a 2011 blaze that killed nine guys.
The fire highlights lingering safety issues in older buildings in Hong Kong, among the world's most densely populated locations. Deadly fires employed to be a regular occurrence, but have dwindled recently as the government applied stricter fire safety measures.
The inspections will give attention to the buildings' common means of escape and identifying fire hazards. Inspectors might take enforcement actions predicated on their findings, incorporating prosecutions, the government release said.
The fire department may also get in touch with various groups to learn more about gathering places where religious and cultural activities are held, inspect those places and raise knowing of fire safety among the groups.
Pun T Prakash, president of the Hong Kong Nepalese Organization Association, said his group will also reach away to the community.
"We will recommend them never to have this kind of activity, never to have this sort of club around this region," he said. "We ought to be following the regulations of Hong Kong, how to open a restaurant, how to open a store. We may also educate them."
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