The victims of a deadly building collapse at To Kwa Wan were 'murdered', their relatives said yesterday as they urged the coroner to record a verdict of unlawful killing.
The Buildings Department, the landlady, her main tenant and a workman were all responsible for the four deaths, the families told the Coroner's Court.
But lawyers for the Buildings Department and the landlady have urged the court to declare the collapse of the 55-year-old tenement in Ma Tau Wai Road in January last year an accident.
Coroner Michael Chan Pik-kiu is expected to record his verdict today.
Li Zhenhua, mother of 20-year-old student Tong Qingtao, one of the four killed, made a submission yesterday, on the inquest's sixth day. A statement was read out by her daughter, Tong Ke, because Li was too distraught to do so herself.
'On the surface, the incident looks like an accident but I think the whole thing is all about the greed of the building owner and the principal tenant, the ignorance and arrogance of the contractor, and the inability and ruthlessness of the Buildings Department,' the statement said.
'The collapse was caused by the negligence of these people. My son was virtually murdered by them. People from the Buildings Department have no sense of responsibility and they are unprofessional. They said the building [posed] no immediate danger but they are now proven wrong. Either they are failed in their duties or they had misjudged ... they were the culprits.'