The original poin of the deadly fire in the housing complex Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has been preliminarily identified, but the cause of the blaze is still under further investigation, Andy Yeung Yan-kin, director of Fire Services of the HKSAR government said on Saturday.
The blaze, the deadliest Hong Kong had witnessed for decades, broke out at around 14:50 on Nov 26 at eight-towered residential estate Wang Fuk Court, which was under renovation, in the Tai Po district. The fire quickly engulfed seven of the towers, leaving at least 159 dead, 79 injured and thousands of families homeless.
Firefighters have completed rescue operations in Wang Fuk Court residential complex, and authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze and its heavy casualties, according to Yeung.
"The fire rescue operation on site has been completed. The next focus will be the investigation into the cause of the fire. We've set up a task force with multiple government departments to determine how the fire started and why it caused so many casualties. So far, we've roughly identified the original point of the fire. Next, we will use computer simulations to study how the fire spread, and we'll build a model to recreate the scene for fire simulation and cause analysis," he said.
Under the coordination of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the neighboring Guangdong Province swiftly mobilized a series of rescue equipment, medical supplies and consumables at the request of the HKSAR government, providing advanced equipment, such as illuminating drones, reconnaissance drones, robotic exoskeletons and fire protective boots.
"I'd like to thank the central government, the National Fire and Rescue Administration, and the Guangdong Fire Brigade for supporting the Hong Kong Fire Services in this operation. They provided drones equipped with thermal imaging which greatly improved the efficiency of our firefighting efforts. In particular, the thermal imaging devices allowed us to monitor the scene and identify the units that were burning most severely," Yeung said.
Original source of fire preliminarily identified: HK fire services
Original source of fire preliminarily identified: HK fire services
