Double tragedy leads to call for safer reservoirs

The Government was accused of complacency yesterday and criticised for outdated safety standards at a reservoir where two boys drowned.

Coroner Ian Thomas said he was concerned that the boys had been able to gain access to the water by climbing through a fence that had been vandalised repeatedly.

'I have been told that the fencing is up to standard, but there is nothing to show that those standards are appropriate,' he said. 'The overwhelming impression with which the Water Services Department has left me is one of considerable complacency.' Mr Thomas said he was 'dismayed' that the department had not regarded the covering of urban reservoirs as a matter of urgency.

Lau Chun-fai, eight, and Yu Fuk-kam, 11, drowned after leaving a playground, clambering through the hole in the fence and turning polystyrene boxes into makeshift boats.

The tragedy occurred at the Yau Tong Service Reservoir in Lam Tin, built in 1966, and operated by the Water Services Department.

Department works supervisor Lo Kwai-shing had told the inquest a hole had been cut repeatedly in the mesh fence and that he had repaired the damage in February and April last year.