Smoke continues to rise from the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong on Nov. 27 last year, the day after a massive fire broke out at the site. The blaze killed 168 people. [AFP]
Smoke continues to rise from the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong on Nov. 27 last year, the day after a massive fire broke out at the site. The blaze killed 168 people. [AFP]

A cigarette butt most likely ignited the fire that tore through a Hong Kong high-rise apartment complex last November and killed 168 people, an independent inquiry has concluded.

More than eight months after the disaster, an independent commission released its final report, detailing the probable cause and origin of the blaze at Wang Fuk Court.

The commission determined that the fire most likely started on the outdoor terrace outside units 104 and 105 of Wang Ching House, one of eight residential blocks in the complex.

Renovation work was underway at the complex at the time, and safety netting and polystyrene panels covering windows had been stacked roughly 2 meters high near the suspected point of origin.

The commission concluded it was highly probable that a cigarette butt ignited those combustible materials, setting off the blaze.

While investigators could not pinpoint the exact moment the fire started, witness accounts and closed-circuit television footage indicated it broke out sometime between 2:30 p.m. and 2:43 p.m.

The fire broke out Nov. 26 last year at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in the suburban Tai Po district of Hong Kong. Seven of the complex's eight blocks were engulfed in flames, killing 168 people and injuring 79 others. It was the deadliest fire in Hong Kong in decades.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee formed the independent commission in December last year to determine the cause and assign responsibility for the fire, and to recommend measures to prevent a recurrence.

Authorities subsequently indicted seven people in June — including officials from a consulting firm and a construction company involved in the renovation work at the complex — on charges related to the disaster.


kacew@heraldcorp.com