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SCMP Reporter

The inquest into the Pat Sin Leng hill fire yesterday saw a video re-enactment of the tragedy, including a scene where firemen posed as charred bodies.

  The inquest watched as hiker Tam Ka-fat, the first person on the scene, walked a video crew through the scorched trail on the Pat Sin Leng range.

  Three students: Lung Yu-ying, 12, Kwong Shuk-ling, 12, Rita Yu Hui-wan, 13, died in the February 10 blaze along with teachers Chau Chi-chai, 32, and Wong Sau-mei, 26.

  Fung Yiu King Memorial Secondary School teachers Wat Pui-yee and Lee Yee-kui indicated where the fire occurred and described the events in detail as firemen posed in the positions the bodies were found.

   Ms Lee and Ms Wat were leading the school trip along with Chau and Wong.

   They were at the front and middle of the group of 50 schoolchildren and scrambled to safety when the blaze broke out.

  Mr Tam heard voices from further up the steep and rocky trail which ran up the face of Pat Sin Leng.

  'I heard the yells, but I couldn't decide whether they were yells of joy or of fear,' he told the inquest.

  When Mr Tam emerged from a cluster of bushes he saw a fire spreading across the dry grass and hillside. To fight the blaze he used a branch he cut from a tree.

   He told Coroner John Saunders that he spotted four girls at the bottom of the rocky outcropping screaming: 'Help us, help us. We don't want to die.'   He found Rita Yu Hui-wan, 13, lying on the ground. Half the skin on her face had peeled away, and he carried her on his back to safety.

  Her tearful father, Yu Wo-ki told the hiker: 'I want to thank you for what you did for my daughter.'   The inquest heard that the hiking group, part of a scheme called 'the Golden Leg', was five times larger than the size allowed by the Department of Education for outdoor activities.

   The department limits groups to sizes between three and 10 students. Ms Wat said she believed that ruling was in regard to the student-teacher ratio.

  It became clear during the inquest the four teachers leading the trek had always planned to take the rugged route up the face of the 550 metre Pat Sin Leng mountain.

  They had discussed the route - which is recommended only for experienced hikers - weeks before the trip. But the permission form which was signed by parents describes a safe and less strenuous trail.



Video shows re-enactment of fatal blaze