Electrical leakage may have caused deadly Ngau Tau Kok blaze, Hong Kong police source says
Air-conditioning unit may have been responsible for longest-running fire in 20 years that claimed the lives of two firefighters
An electrical leakage may have been one cause of the deadly blaze in the Ngau Tau Kok industrial building, a police source has told the Post.
The fire, which burned for 108 hours, was the longest-running blaze in 20 years and claimed the lives of two firefighters.
“It is possible the electrical leakage was caused by an air conditioner,” he said. “Therefore, parts of air conditioners and burned electrical wires were taken from the fire scene for examination in a joint probe with officers from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department.”
The source said officers from the Kowloon East regional crime unit had pored over closed-circuit television footage and found nothing suspicious. Police would compile death reports for the two firemen and submit them to the Coroner’s Court, he said.
More than 200 tenants of the mini-storage facility are seeking compensation for their goods that went up in flames as well as rental exemptions from the operator.
Democratic Party lawmaker Wu Chi-wai tried to deliver a letter to the Kowloon Bay office of SC Storage, which runs the troubled facility, on Monday afternoon on behalf of the tenants, but found no one there.
Wu said he had contacted a woman who claimed to be a senior manager for the firm on Monday morning and informed her he would come to their office to deliver the letter, but Wu said on arrival he was told over the phone to slip the letter through the door.
However, Wu said the firm had promised it would meet with tenants this week.
“The tenants’ requests at the current stage are very simple,” he said, urging the operator to make an official announcement about adjustments to rental terms and compensation.
Wu said tenants usually had to provide a deposit equivalent to six months or one year of storage fees, which he said should now be returned to the tenants.
“SC Storage has not yet issued any official statement on the details of the settlements concerning tenants,” Wu said. “A Facebook post doesn’t count.
“Many of the tenants did not know their neighbouring units stored dangerous goods.”
Those who had goods destroyed in the fire included both companies and individuals storing personal belongings.
