Oversight failures led to deadly Hong Kong fire, probe says

HONG KONG — An independent committee investigating the cause of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades heard arguments on how improper practices that evaded regulatory oversight turned a small fire into a tragedy as the investigation neared its conclusion Friday.

The November blaze spread through seven buildings of an apartment complex, killing 168 people and displacing thousands of residents at Wang Fuk Court in the suburban Tai Po district.

Many of the residents now live in temporary housing.

Committee lead lawyer Victor Dawes said the use of non-fire-retardant scaffolding netting was very likely a key reason for the fire's rapid spread at the complex, which was undergoing a major renovation project when the blaze started.

Having wooden planks boarding up staircase windows caused plumes of smoke in residents’ escape routes, he said.

He said Will Power Architects Company, a consultancy, and Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., the main contractor on the project, cut corners in the work and the materials, in addition to deceiving regulators and homeowners, he said.

Various subs ...