Hong Kong orders scaffold netting to be removed at over 200 sites in wake of inferno

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HONG KONG: Authorities have ordered scaffold netting to be removed at more than 200 locations across Hong Kong by Saturday (Dec 6) after suspected false safety certificates were found at two building sites following the Tai Po blaze that claimed 159 lives.

A week after Hong Kong’s worst inferno in decades, police on Wednesday arrested six men from the company responsible for the fire alarm system at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex, where the blaze ripped through seven towers covered in bamboo scaffolding and protective mesh.

They allegedly made false declarations to the Fire Services Department that the alarms at the estate would not be deactivated during renovation works.

Authorities ordered the removal of nets at major maintenance sites after a Shandong-based scaffolding netting manufacturer was alleged to have falsified safety certificates for materials being used in housing renovation projects in Chai Wan and Fortress Hill.

Security chief Chris Tang Ping-keung said authorities had launched a criminal probe into the case, in which the company claimed its products were certified by the National Quality Inspection and Testing Centre for Labour Protective Equipment in Beijing.

Tang, however, said the centre never issued such documents.

The company also claimed it had received a safety certificate from a lab in Binzhou, Shandong province, but Tang said the contact number was invalid.

“We are in contact with the relevant departments on the mainland, which will assist in our investigations,” he said.

Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said a “strict approach” was necessary and ordered that around 200 private buildings and a dozen public housing blocks or government buildings must take down their scaffolding nettings by Saturday.

“Because we suspect falsified documents, to protect the safety of residents, and to alleviate the concerns of residents of buildings undergoing renovation … I announce that the government will require scaffolding netting in all private and public buildings to be removed within the next three days,” Linn said.

She said that the Buildings Department was expected to issue new operational guidelines by next week, requiring all scaffolding netting to be sampled on-site and certified safe by appointed labs before it could be installed.

Linn noted that engineering work in the city was often built upon trust in professionals.

“If this incident showed that this trust cannot be upheld, then our approach to handling these matters will be reviewed,” she said.

“If individual contractors are found to be violating regulations and are embroiled in commercial disputes as a result of their licence being revoked, then I believe the industry has to learn a lesson from this incident as a result of these black sheep.”

Authorities had earlier taken thousands of netting samples from upper, middle and lower floors in more than 300 sites for testing in government laboratories in the days following the fire and would take enforcement action if any failed safety tests, Linn said.

Lawrence Ng San‑wa, permanent honorary president of the Hong Kong Construction Sub‑Contractors Association, said he believed most buildings would be able to remove the netting before Saturday.

Ng said contractors could prioritise the removal work ahead of other tasks, noting that the city had about 2,000 registered scaffolders, which he believed would be sufficient to carry out the job.

He added that some projects currently undergoing work – such as removing existing exterior wall materials – might need to apply for more time to clear debris before the netting could be taken down.

On the department’s new guidelines, which require on-site sample testing of new netting, Ng said the procedure would add to the time cost but should not cause significant delays.

“We have had an unfortunate incident in which many people have passed away. The first priority now is to prevent similar incidents from happening again. That should be the first goal,” he said.

Police arrested six men, aged 44 to 55, on Wednesday in connection with the fire, bringing the total number of arrestees to 21. The other 15 were earlier arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

Multiple residents at Wang Fuk Court had claimed they had little to no warning of danger as the fire alarms in their building failed to sound last Wednesday when the blaze escalated.

Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming said the six, from a company in charge of the fire alarm system, were arrested on suspicion of making a false representation to the Fire Services Department that they would not deactivate the estate alarm system during renovation works.

The death toll rose to 159 from 156 the previous day, as officers who finished searching through all seven fire-ravaged blocks recovered three more sets of remains on Wednesday.

Chow said that of the 140 bodies identified, 49 were men and 91 were women. The victims were aged between one year and 97.

The deceased include firefighter Ho Wai-ho, 10 domestic helpers and five construction workers.

Of the total, 158 bodies were found among five blocks, with none in Wang Yan House and Wang Kin House.

Wang Cheong House, where the fire first broke out, had 70 fatalities, while the second one ablaze, Wang Tai House, had 82. Three bodies were found in Wang Sun House, two in Wang Tao House, with one in Wang Shing House.

Chow said the identity of one victim – who was believed to have escaped from Wang Cheong House or Wang Tai House – was unknown as the body had not been identified yet. The victim was among 19 yet to be identified.

During the search, Chow said, officers from the Disaster Victim Identification Unit (DVIU) found bones in different flats and would require forensic tests to determine if they belonged to animals or humans.

Chow said some time would be needed to check whether remains had been buried beneath collapsed scaffolding. Police would work with housing authorities to safely tear down the scaffolding for investigation, he said.

Chow said DVIU teams had re-entered some flats of people reported missing to search through ashes “with their hands” after failing to find remains during the first round of checks.

“Our DVIU officers do not wish to miss out on any chance of finding remains,” he said.

But some remains might never be found.

“If the load-bearing wall has been so burnt that only steel bars remain, we cannot rule out the possibility that the deceased will have been burnt to ash,” he said.

“Ultimately, some of the deceased might not be able to be identified by their families … but we will try our best.”

Among the 79 people injured, 37 remained in hospital, with four in a critical condition. Nine were seriously injured.

Chief Superintendent Karen Tsang Shuk-yin said 31 people remained unaccounted for, including three Indonesian domestic workers.

She said the force had been trying to contact the missing by looking through shelters, contact information from the property management company, bank records, telecoms providers and exit records from the Immigration Department.

One week after the fire first tore through seven out of the estate’s eight high-rise blocks, residents of Wang Chi House, the only block spared, were given 90 minutes to return home to pack their belongings.

Assisted by civil servants, they clung onto huge bags of warm winter clothes, valuables and textbooks, with one family even retrieving their washing machine, as they settled into youth hostels, hotels and transitional housing units, unclear when they might next return home.

A resident was seen picking up his cat which had survived after being left home alone for eight days.

Authorities also announced that residents affected by the fire would have their taxes for 2024-25 waived.

A spokesman said the government would foot the bill for government rent, rates and utilities while electricity, telecoms and gas providers have also offered subsidies for the residents.

This article was first published on SCMP.