A probe found it likely that the fire at the high-rise Hong Kong apartment Wong Fuk Court, which killed 168 people in November last year, started from a cigarette.
According to Xinhua on the 9th, the independent commission investigating the Wong Fuk Court fire in Hong Kong recently released its final report with these findings.
The commission identified the first ignition point as the exterior terraces of Wang Cheung House units 104 and 105 among eight buildings in the complex.
At the time of the fire, repair work was underway at the apartment complex. Investigators found that flammable materials such as safety nets and Styrofoam panels covering windows were stacked to about 2 meters at the presumed ignition site.
The commission said a discarded cigarette butt likely ignited flammable materials at the construction site. Although it did not confirm the exact time of ignition, based on witness statements and CCTV footage it estimated the fire started between 2:30 p.m. and 2:43 p.m. that day.
The fire that broke out on Nov. 26 last year at the Wong Fuk Court apartment complex on the outskirts of Tai Po, Hong Kong, was the deadliest in Hong Kong in recent decades. Flames spread to seven of the eight buildings, killing 168 people and injuring 79.
John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, launched an independent commission in December last year to determine the cause and accountability and to draw up measures to prevent a recurrence.
In June, Hong Kong authorities sent seven people to trial, including officials from a consulting firm and a construction company involved in the apartment repair work.