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DISASTERJun 27How does this NGO help Hong Kong fire victims, needy people get a dignified farewell?On a drizzly, windy morning in June, a family gathered before a tombstone at Wo Hop Shek Cemetery in northern Hong Kong to bid farewell to a loved one who died in the Wang Fuk Court fire. Beneath the muddy grave and scattered stones lies a man surnamed Hung, in his forties, among the 168 victims of the city’s deadliest fire in decades. Last November’s inferno also displaced nearly 5,000 residents. Unlike many victims who were cremated, Hung’s family insisted on a burial. “He passed in the blaze,...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 27Filipino teenager, 17, drowns after falling from Peng Chau bridge in Hong KongA Filipino teenager has drowned after losing his balance while walking on a bridge and falling into the sea off an outlying island in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post has learned. According to a source, the 17-year-old boy, who holds a Hong Kong identity card, was chatting with two friends while sitting on the railings of Chau Tsai Bridge on Peng Chau on Friday evening. At around 7.18pm, he stood on the railings and walked a few steps before losing his balance and falling into the sea,...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 26Woman dead after fire at Hong Kong flat, 3 others hospitalisedA 50-year-old woman has died in the wake of a fire at a Hong Kong flat, with three others hospitalised. Police said the fire broke out at Valiant Court in Ho Man Tin at around 10.04am on Friday. Fire services were immediately deployed to the scene and the blaze was reportedly extinguished soon thereafter. The force said three women and a man were rescued from the building. They were rushed to Kwong Wah Hospital in nearby Yau Ma Tei but one of the women, aged 50, was later pronounced dead. The...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 26Hong Kong police arrest minibus driver after cyclist killed in collisionHong Kong police have arrested a minibus driver for dangerous driving after his vehicle fatally hit a cyclist in North district. Police received a report of the incident in Ta Kwu Ling at 6.27am on Friday. Emergency personnel found the man unconscious at the scene, having sustained serious head injuries. He was taken to North District Hospital in Sheung Shui, where he was pronounced dead at 6.59am. The 74-year-old minibus driver was travelling along Man Kam To Road towards Sheung Shui at the...South China Morning Post
DISASTERBREAKINGJun 26Hong Kong issues red rainstorm warning as education authorities suspend classesSouth China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 26Worker dies after being run over by construction vehicle at Hong Kong sports groundHong Kong’s labour authorities are investigating a fatal accident in which a worker died after being run over by a construction vehicle at a sports ground. Police received a report at about 8.58am on Friday that a man had been hit by a vehicle at Kowloon Bay Sports Ground at Kai Lok Street and was trapped beneath it on the running track. The victim’s colleague reported the incident to emergency services. Firefighters arrived to free the victim, but he was pronounced dead at the scene after...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 25Hong Kong police bomb squad dispatched to check suspicious object in Quarry BayHong Kong police’s bomb squad has been called in to investigate a suspicious object discovered in Quarry Bay, with a source saying it was likely to be “mud, a rock or concrete”. The force was alerted at 4.52pm on Thursday to a suspicious object discovered on Pan Hoi Street in Quarry Bay. “The explosive ordnance disposal bureau has been summoned to investigate the object,” a spokesman said. A source said the object was not a bomb. “It could be mud, a rock or concrete - something of no value,” the...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 24Experts reveal why deadly Hong Kong blaze spread so rapidlyThis story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. As a judge-led panel continues its public inquiry into Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, experts are set to give evidence on factors that contributed to the rapid spread of the blaze. Richard Yuen Kwok-kit, chair professor of architectural engineering at the City University, will testify on Wednesday before the independent committee regarding the fire at...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 23Driver, passenger hurt as taxi collides with truck in Hong KongA taxi driver and a passenger were injured after the vehicle collided with a truck on Kwun Tong Road in Hong Kong on Tuesday afternoon. Police said the crash occurred at about 12.25pm on the eastbound carriageway of the road, near Ping Shek Estate in Ngau Tau Kok. The taxi was headed towards the public transport interchange in Choi Hung when it struck a medium goods vehicle that was travelling in the third lane, according to preliminary findings. The cab driver, a 27-year-old woman surnamed Yip,...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 23Hong Kong declared Sars-free in 2003 – SCMP archiveThis article was first published on June 24, 2003. WHO gives the all-clear by Jimmy Cheung, Chow Chung-yan and Benjamin Wong Hong Kong is ready to spend $1 billion to rebuild its battered image and lure back tourists and businesses after it was officially declared free of Sars by the World Health Organization yesterday (June 23, 2003). Officials said the announcement had given the go-ahead for a campaign aimed at promoting Hong Kong as the best place for visitors and business in Asia. The...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 22Driver escapes as Ferrari catches fire near Hong Kong light rail stopA Ferrari caught fire near a light rail stop in Hong Kong’s Tin Shui Wai on Monday morning. Police said the driver reported the fire at 10.41am after exiting the black vehicle, which had no passengers on board, near Ginza Station. Photos and videos circulating online show firefighters extinguishing the blaze as traffic builds up behind the car, with smoke billowing from the scene. The fire was later put out. The front left side of the vehicle sustained the most damage, with half of the...South China Morning Post
DISASTERJun 22Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire inquiry panel rules out statutory powersThis story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. A judge-led panel investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has resumed its public inquiry after a six-week break to hear expert evidence on the cause of the blaze that killed 168 people last year. The independent committee probing the Wang Fuk Court inferno began its fifth round of hearings on Monday, with panel chairman Justice David Lok Kai-hong...South China Morning Post