Owners of residential buildings in Hong Kong should consider installing sprinklers and smoke detectors rather than relying on fire alarm call points with glass covers, experts have said, after video emerged that appeared to show a resident trying to sound the alarm using one of the boxes at Wang Fuk Court but without success.
The video clip circulating on social media purportedly taken from a security camera in the hallway of one of the towers shows the man trying to use the fire alarm call point when the blaze erupted on Wednesday last week but it failed to work.
The blaze spread from one tower to another six, and many residents reported they had either little or no warning of the danger.
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The Fire Services Department said last week fire alarms did not sound in all eight blocks during tests last year.
Six subcontractors in charge of the fire system were arrested on Wednesday. Police said they falsely reported to the department that they would not deactivate the fire alarm system during the renovation process.
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The video clip has stoked anger online and prompted social media users to ask whether a citywide inspection of fire alarms at all residential buildings should begin as soon as possible. They asked whether automatic fire alert systems should become the norm.
Vincent Ho Kui-yip, president of the Hong Kong Institute of Building Safety, said almost all commercial buildings in the city had installed sprinkler systems, triggered by heat, while some places used smoke detectors.