Tai Po fire inquiry: Government blames 'deliberate cheating' by contractors for blaze that killed 168

Hong Kong government lawyers have accused renovation contractors and oversight professionals of "deliberate cheating" that led to a devastating fire in Tai Po last year, which claimed 168 lives. Presenting closing remarks at a public inquiry, the government's legal team urged the committee to distinguish between the fire's direct cause and regulatory failures.

According to a government submission, "professionals and contractors… have abused the system through a combination of deliberate cheating, conspiracy, collaboration, neglect, contraventions and non-compliance." These actions directly caused the fire, its rapid spread, and the tragic loss of life. The inquiry previously heard that the fire likely started from smoking, exacerbated by the use of non-fire-retardant construction nets and modifications to escape staircases, which facilitated the flames' and smoke's swift movement.

“

It is now clear that those professionals and contractors… have abused the system through a combination of deliberate cheating, conspiracy, collaboration, neglect, contraventions and non-compliance that directly caused the fire, its rapid spread, and the death of 168 people.

Prestige Construction & Engineering, the main contractor for the HK$330 million renovation project at Wang Fuk Court, is identified as bearing primary responsibility for the hazardous conditions. The government submission stated that Prestige's "multiple acts of non-compliance, deception and misrepresentation" were the direct cause. Will Power Architects, the consultancy overseeing the works, and its director Wilson Ng, allegedly failed to supervise Prestige, allowing the "wrongdoings to continue unchecked."

Other entities implicated include fire safety contractors China Status and Victory Fire, and the estate management company ISS EastPoint Properties, all of whom bore varying degrees of responsibility. The government submission characterized these failures not as isolated incidents but as a "pattern of collaborative and mutually reinforcing wrongdoings." While acknowledging "systematic weaknesses" in the city's regulatory regime, the government's focus remained on the alleged misconduct of private actors.

“

These private-actor failures were not isolated or coincidental but formed a pattern of collaborative and mutually reinforcing wrongdoings.