The Albany Gazette - Hong Kong files charges over deadliest fire in decades

The massive blaze, which engulfed seven of the eight high-rise apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court estate in November, prompted a months-long investigation into the cause.

Public hearings were told that almost all life-saving fire safety measures had failed on the day of the blaze because of human errors.

The directors of the construction contractor and the consultant firm involved in Wang Fuk Court's renovation at the time of the fire, as well as an inspector, were accused of manslaughter along with their companies, according to charge sheets seen by AFP.

Seven individuals in total, who played different roles in the estate's renovation, were charged with defrauding, laundering money and tax evasion.

The defendants appeared in court on Wednesday and told the judge that they "understood" the charges.

The court heard that those accused of manslaughter "unlawfully" killed 168 from the residential buildings in November, including residents and a firefighter.

A list of 168 victims' names from a charge sheet was also read out in the hearing, the first time such information has been made public.

The cases were adjourned until September this year.

A Hong Kong police representative said Wednesday that the force had arrested 35 people in connection with the fire, working with Hong Kong's anti-graft watchdog, ICAC.

"We suspect that this unfortunate incident was caused by individuals acting in their own self-interest... with complete disregard for the safety of residents' lives and property," ICAC's principal investigator Hazel Law told reporters.

ICAC found that some defendants conspired to defraud authorities by filing false reports about the estate's projects.

Police added that the contractor and consulting firms were "suspected of serious breach of duty of care, resulting in gross negligence" in the construction project.

Substandard construction safety netting and cigarette butts were focal points of the probe into the causes and rapid spread of the deadliest residential building fire globally since 1980.

Fire alarm systems for seven of eight blocks had also been deactivated, which "greatly shortened the time for residents to evacuate", leading counsel Victor Dawes told an independent committee conducting the probe.

Required fire-retardant nets were not used in many places, and the windows were covered by foam boards, which may have contributed to the spread of fire into the flats, the panel heard earlier this year.

The Fire Investigation Task Force had maintained that an ignited cigarette caused combustible material to catch fire, sparking the blaze.

Thousands of residents lost their homes in the blaze and relocated into temporary housing.

(P.Davis--TAG)