CSV #39 THE TRAGIC HONG KONG FIRE.. WHO TO BLAME?

CSV #39 THE TRAGIC HONG KONG FIRE.. WHO TO BLAME?

Officials Had Been Warned for Over a Year Before Hong Kong Fire
Residents of Wang Fuk Court apartments had raised concerns about flammable foam panels and scaffold netting, but the government did not take decisive action.

More than a year before a fire devoured a complex of high-rise towers in Hong Kong, residents alerted officials about potential fire safety violations on a renovation project there.

This week, their worst fears came true in one of the deadliest infernos in Hong Kong’s history.

The fire that started on Wednesday at Wang Fuk Court, a housing complex with about 2,000 apartments, killed at least 128 people by Friday’s tally and injured 78 others. About 200 people are unaccounted for.

What ignited the ferocious fire is not yet known. But as investigators comb through the buildings’ charred shells in search of evidence, they are asking whether negligence played a role in the devastation.

Investigators have focused on the quality of construction materials used for the renovation, such as netting that covered bamboo scaffolding to keep objects from falling on passers-by and polystyrene foam panels installed to protect window glass from breaking.