The Buildings Department has said the Chinachem Tower in Central is structurally safe, after a fire left four people hospitalised on Saturday.
The blaze ripped through the building on Connaught Road Central at around 4.24pm on Saturday – dozens were evacuated as the external scaffolding was engulfed in flames.
A government spokesperson told HKFP on Monday that the condition of a 23-year-old man – who suffered head injuries in the fire – had improved on Sunday evening. As of 10pm, his condition had changed from critical to serious.
Meanwhile, a 55-year-old man improved from critical to stable by lunchtime on Sunday following the No.3 fire alarm.
A 35-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man also remained in a stable condition as of Sunday.
Fire investigation team
RTHK cited a Buildings Department statement on Sunday as saying that their staff did not note any structural hazards at the site but some loose material on the exterior of the building would need to be immediately removed.
Minor works to its exterior walls and air-conditioning brackets had previously been approved, and all protective coverings, nets and tarpaulins used in the scaffolding were up to standard, they added.
It said that there was no major structural damage, but it will investigate whether any regulations were breached, RTHK reported.
The Fire Services Department’s Deputy Divisional Commander Lo Shui-sang said at a media briefing on Saturday that the FSD put out the fire by 9.13pm on Saturday.
He said that the blaze was located on the façade of the building, and the inside was not seriously affected: “[W]e will set up a fire investigation team to investigate the cause of the fire… we will work with police to investigate if there are any suspicious causes…” he said in Cantonese.
Former assistant divisional officer of the Fire Service Department (FSD) Leung Kam-tak – now a fire consultant – told NowTV on Sunday: “[I] assume the fire started at a low height – two or three reasons: of course, we need to know if there was welding going on in the renovation work, which may have involved sparks.”
“But, more likely, there may have been someone throwing a cigarette butt into the roadside skip – then the fire goes up [the scaffolding], especially when the canvas was made with plastic. It is not only easy to light it up, but it also spreads quickly when lit,” Leung added in Cantonese.
