(Nov 29): The Chinese government will inspect fire risks in high-rise buildings after the deadly blaze in Hong Kong earlier this week, according to a statement posted Saturday on the Ministry of Emergency Management’s website.
The campaign will target residential buildings and places where people gather, focusing on properties undergoing exterior wall renovations or partial interior decorations, the ministry said. The use of flammable or combustible materials in those buildings will be examined, according to the agency.
The inspections will try to identify banned materials, processes, and equipment — such as bamboo scaffolding.
The aim is to strengthen fire-safety management in high-rise buildings after the deadliest blaze in Hong Kong in nearly eight decades earlier this week, which claimed at least 128 lives.
The fire began Wednesday on the lower floors of a building in Wang Fuk Court, where netting wrapped around bamboo scaffolding caught fire and ignited highly flammable foam boards installed around windows. The intense heat also set the scaffolding ablaze, causing burning bamboo pieces to fall and ignite additional floors across the eight-tower complex in northern Hong Kong.
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