Society
HK building collapse kills three; two missing
By Ming Yeung and Joy Lu (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-30 09:00
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HONG KONG: Three people - two men and a woman - were killed when a shabby five-story building collapsed in Hong Kong's Hung Hom area on Friday. At least two others were still missing Friday night.
 Firemen rescue residents from a five-story building that collapsed in Hong Kong, killing at least three people, on Friday. The building was about 50 years old. [Edmond Tang] |
The building, situated at 45 Ma Tao Wai Road, was just one in a row of several tenement residential structures built in the 1950s.
A passenger in a bus passing by the building was the first to call 999, the emergency hotline, to report that the outer wall of the structure had given way and a woman on the first floor was shouting for help.
Seconds later, at about 1:45 pm, the building disintegrated, a police spokesperson said.
Firemen reached the scene within minutes and pulled out an injured man from beneath a pile of rubble, police said.
An hour after the collapse, firemen pulled out a woman, who is yet to be identified, and rushed her to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where doctors failed to save her.
Police said the woman was about 40 years old.
They pulled out two men from the rubble after 7 pm but both were already dead.
They said chances of pulling out more survivors were bleak.
The Ma Tau Wai Road was completely blocked from both directions causing a severe traffic jam on Pak Kung Street.
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"I believe the collapse had something to do with the renovation," said Donald Tsang, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
"I've met the residents of the building who have been evacuated. They're scared, we're all scared," Tsang said at a press briefing.
The tragedy has highlighted the importance of maintaining and repairing old buildings, he said.
The government is in the process of introducing a bill in support of mandatory inspection of buildings that are 30 years old or older every 10 years. The new regulations also include mandatory checks on windows in those buildings every five years. The bill will be discussed at the Legislative Council on Feb 3 and is expected to take effect next year, if passed.
Secretary for Development Carrie Lam said the Housing Department will examine all old buildings along the Ma Tau Wai Road, especially those that have existed for more than 50 years.
A spokesman for the Housing Department said that the collapsed building was inspected only this month and a repair order was issued.
As of now, evacuated residents of the building have been lodged at community centers.
