Fire water tanks in all eight blocks of Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po district were empty at the time of a deadly blaze in November due to “uncommon” tiling works, a judge-led independent committee has heard.

The Independent Committee, established by Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to probe the tragedy that claimed 168 lives, has held six evidential hearings since March 19, with 20 Wang Fuk Court residents giving evidence. One resident told the committee on Monday that he tried to use a fire hose to put out the flames on Nov 26, but no water flowed after he turned it on.

During the sixth hearing on Tuesday, Chung Kit-man, director of Victory Fire Engineering Ltd — the registered fire service installation contractor that inspected Wang Fuk Court’s fire safety system in March 2025 — said he learned the water tanks were empty one month before the fire on account of maintenance work.

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He said no leakage was found during the March inspection, citing feedback from workers. However, inspection forms signed by Chung indicated problems with the water tanks. He said employees might have “made a mistake” when filling out the forms and that he failed to spot the error.

One of the workers, Li Chun-yin, testified on Tuesday that he looked inside the cement water tanks during the inspection and that there were no tiles on the surfaces at the time. He said none of the eight blocks’ tanks showed signs of leaking and no repairs were necessary.

Committee counsel Lee Shu-wun presented a contract price list from the estate’s maintenance consultant, Will Power Architects Co, showing the works included applying white tiles to the water tanks — a practice Chung described as “uncommon”.

“My understanding is that fire water tanks store water for firefighting, so the water quality doesn’t need to be up to drinkable standards,” Chung said, adding he did not understand why the maintenance took three months.

To carry out the work, the main contractor, Prestige Construction and Engineering Co, hired another fire service installation contractor, China Status Development and Engineering Co, to apply to the Fire Services Department to shut down the fire hydrant and hose system.

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The committee heard earlier that China Status did not send personnel to inspect the system or question the necessity of the shutdown, but filed the application 16 times, resulting in the system being shut off for more than half a year since April 2025.

During that period, Victory Fire workers found empty rooftop water tanks in three blocks on Oct 16 and later learned that all eight blocks were undergoing repairs. On Nov 19, workers found the main power switch for the fire booster pump in all eight blocks had been turned off.

Chung said he and his employees asked the building management for a shutdown notice, but none was provided. He said he did not advise the management on the matter, citing a long-standing industry mindset of “not teaching others how to do their jobs”.

Contact the writers at stacshi@chinadailyhk.com