Report to blame faulty wiring, and not arson, for Fa Yuen Street fire
The report from a 12-month probe into last year's Fa Yuen Street fire that killed nine also blames illegal subdivided flats for the deaths
A connection problem with an electric cable used at a hawker's stall has been identified as the only possible cause of a Mong Kok inferno in November last year that killed nine people and injured 34.
Investigators into the city's deadliest fire in 15 years are expected to point to faulty wiring, instead of arson, as the trigger for the tragedy in the Fa Yuen Street open-air market.
The danger was compounded by lack of access to rear staircases in two buildings behind the market because flats had been subdivided, the report will highlight.
A 12-month police investigation showed a connection problem in the cable caused it to burst into flames, igniting the booth, a government source said.
The flames, fanned by wind, spread rapidly to other booths and to the mezzanine-floor flats of the buildings through canvas awnings on top of the stalls, he said.
Professor Ho Siu-lau, head of Polytechnic University's electrical engineering department who was brought in by the police as an independent expert to help the investigation, agreed with this conclusion, the source said.
"The cable's connection problem will be the only possible cause to be listed in the full report to be submitted to the Coroner's Court next week," the source said. He did not specify what the connection problem was.