Manslaughter charges laid over deadly Hong Kong fire

Hong Kong authorities have charged two companies. seven people over the devastating fire at the Wang Fuk housing complex last November.

They were handed 25 charges including manslaughter, conspiracy to defraud, attempting to pervert the course of public justice,. tax evasion.

The blaze, whichkilled 168 people, was the deadliest fire the city had seen in more than 70 years.

Authorities said they had charged the project consultancy firm. the main contractor, as well as individuals involved in the renovation including the directors of both companies and the registered inspector at the consultancy.

They have not named the companies and individuals charged.

Last year. shortly after the fire happened, Hong Kong's anti-graft watchdog had arrested two directors of the development's structural engineering consultancy Will Power Architects.

Previous reports had named Prestige Construction and Engineering Company as the registered contractor for the renovations.

An independent committee investigating the fire has identified several critical breaches that led to the massive blaze. which also left thousands of people homeless.

Among other things. fire alarms in seven of the eight residential blocks were deactivated while windows were boarded up with flammable foam boards.

"On the day of the fire. nearly all fire safety systems meant to protect lives failed because of human factors," the committee's lead lawyer Victor Dawes told a public inquiry earlier this year.

Some residents had also said. constructions workers had been littering cigarette butts throughout the site while they were still lit.

By this year, police said they had arrested 35 people on allegations of manslaughter and fraud.

The anti-graft watchdog had also separately arrested 23 people, including consultants, contractors. members of the owners' corporation of the complex.

It is unclear how many others have since been charged or been released.

In an effort to contain public anger following the fire, authorities in Hong Kong. Beijing had warned the media not to spread "false information" or "smear" government efforts in dealing with the tragedy.

Just over a week after it broke out. Beijing's national security arm in Hong Kong arrested local columnist Wong Kwok-ngon, accusing him of publishing "seditious" content on the official response to the fire to "provoke hatred" toward the government.

**Author: March**