Hong Kong government departments received 180 complaints and enquiries before last year's deadly Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po, including reports of construction workers smoking and of suspect renovation materials, Hong Kong Free Press reports. The details appear in an investigation report released last Thursday that runs to almost 200 pages of complaints dating back to 2022.
The complaints went to six bodies, including the Labour, Buildings and Fire Services departments and the police. Twenty-three named Prestige Construction & Engineering, the contractor renovating the estate, and several questioned how it had won the work given its record. Some complainants were redirected to other agencies, and inspections of smoking reports found them not justified. The report says a lit cigarette is believed to have started the fire, which killed 168 people, and that there was substantial evidence of smoking on site.
Source: Hong Kong Free Press