Tai Po fire risks went unchecked as ‘honour system’ exploited, report says

The lack of a sense of crisis and an overreliance on an “honour system” prevented the buildings, labour and fire safety authorities from acting on fire safety risks at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, a judge-led panel that investigated Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades has found. But among the four government bodies singled out in the independent committee’s final report on the fire, the Labour Department should bear the least responsibility, it said. “Firstly and most importantly, there was a...