独立委员会周一听证会上获悉，政府测量师遵循过时指引，未需亲身检查王福苑翻新工程，导致火险未被发现。听证显示，若当局及时更新检查细则，非法改动或可早被发现。该大火造成168人死亡，是香港1948年以来最严重火灾。
独立委员会的公开证据听证会上，证人表示政府测量师遵守旧指引，该指引不要求亲身视察王福苑的细微建筑工程。这导致翻新期间对紧急通道的非法改动未被及时发现。
王福苑位于太埔的资助房屋屋苑，于11月26日发生大火，波及八座大厦中的七座，造成168人死亡，并使近5000人流离失所。该翻新工程耗资3.36亿港元（4290万美元），用于屋苑外墙。
听证还揭示建筑官员对检查规则和法律条文的理解不一致。一名退休测量师反驳前同事的指称，否认自己错误声称翻新中使用聚氨酯泡沫材料不受规管。
委员会此前听证已指出翻新项目存在多项火险，包括使用不合标准的棚架网和聚氨酯泡沫板，以及紧急楼梯的临时开口。
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Residents of Hong Kong's Wang Fuk Court have returned to the fire-ravaged ruins in recent days, climbing stairs to retrieve jewellery, cash, photo albums and keepsakes before bidding farewell to their homes. The fire services chief acknowledged at a hearing that departments need better communication while insisting on clear divisions of responsibility. The blaze killed 168 people.
Hong Kong's inquiry into the deadly Tai Po fire at Wang Fuk Court heard that the temporary removal of fireproof windows complied with regulations. Panel chairman Mr Justice David Lok Kai-hong questioned whether existing rules fairly balance workers' welfare and residents' safety. The inferno, which lasted 43 hours starting November 26 last year, killed 168 people in the deadliest blaze since 1948.
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The independent committee probing the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po held its first evidential session, uncovering six human factors behind the near-total failure of fire safety measures. Leading counsel Victor Dawes SC highlighted denials of responsibility by the Labour Department, Fire Services Department, and Housing Bureau's Independent Checking Unit for the HK$336 million project. Details also emerged on the death of firefighter Ho Wai-ho amid the November inferno that killed 168.
A Hong Kong fire official defended declining mainland Chinese firefighters' help during a public hearing into the city's deadliest blaze in decades. Deputy Chief Fire Officer Sunny Wong Sze-lut cited incompatibility and sufficient local manpower. Chief Executive John Lee vowed reforms to improve public safety.
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Hong Kong's Competition Commission has not ruled out links between at least two bid-rigging syndicates and renovations at Wang Fuk Court, the Tai Po estate destroyed in a fire. Executive director for legal services Lester Lee Hiu-leung told a judge-led committee on Thursday that law enforcement agencies will probe potential fraud in residents' selection of the HK$336 million Prestige proposal, the priciest among 57 bids.