More than a year before a fire devoured a complex of high-rise towers in Hong Kong, residents alerted officials about potential fire safety violations on a renovation project there.

在熊熊烈火吞噬香港的这些高层住宅楼的一年多前，居民们曾就维修工程中可能存在的消防安全隐患向官方发出过警示。

This week, their worst fears came true in one of the deadliest infernos in Hong Kong’s history.

本周，他们最担心的事成了现实——这是香港历史上最致命的火灾之一。

The fire that started on Wednesday at Wang Fuk Court, a housing complex with about 2,000 apartments, killed at least 128 people by Friday’s tally and injured 78 others. About 200 people are unaccounted for.

截至周五，这场周三发生在拥有约2000个住宅单位的宏福苑的大火已造成至少128人死亡、78人受伤，另有约200人下落不明。

What ignited the ferocious fire is not yet known. But as investigators comb through the buildings’ charred shells in search of evidence, they are asking whether negligence played a role in the devastation.

大火的起因目前尚未查明。但随着调查人员于烧焦的楼体废墟中搜寻证据之际，他们正试图厘清，这场灾难是否为人祸所致。

Investigators have focused on the quality of construction materials used for the renovation, such as netting that covered bamboo scaffolding to keep objects from falling on passers-by and polystyrene foam panels installed to protect window glass from breaking.

调查重点集中在维修工程中所使用的建筑材料是否合格，例如为防止坠物伤人而覆盖竹棚架的防护网，以及为保护窗户玻璃而安装的发泡胶板。

As far back as September 2024, the estate’s residents had raised concerns to the city government about those materials.

早在2024年9月，屋苑居民就已向市政府反映过对这些材料的担忧。

They wrote to the city’s Labor Department saying that the netting may be flammable, according to the residents’ emails reviewed by The New York Times.

根据《纽约时报》看到的住户邮件，他们曾致函香港劳工处，指出这些防护网可能不符合阻燃标准。

They also raised concerns about the foam panels, according to Jason Poon Chuk-hung, a civil engineer-turned-activist who teamed up with the residents in raising their complaints.

他们还提到了使用泡沫板的风险，曾经担任土木工程师、现为社会活动人士的潘焯鸿说，他与屋苑居民一起提出了这些关切。

On Friday, city officials told reporters that the foam boards were highly flammable and had helped the fire spread at a terrible speed.

周五，市政府官员告诉记者，发泡胶板为高度易燃材料，助长了火势以惊人的速度蔓延。

The Labor Department, which oversees workplace safety issues, at first wrongly dismissed the residents’ concerns about the netting, claiming that there were no rules on the use of flammable materials on scaffolding, the department acknowledged in a statement. Later, it told residents the materials on the construction site met fire safety requirements, citing documents filed by the contractor, Prestige Construction and Engineering.

负责监管工作场所安全问题的劳工处在声明中承认，最初曾错误驳回居民对防护网的担忧，声称现有规定并不涵盖脚手架上所用材料的阻燃标准。其后又根据承建商宏业建筑工程有限公司提交的文件，告知居民施工现场材料符合消防安全要求。

发生在拥有约2000个住宅单位的宏福苑大火，其起因尚未查明。

In its statement to The Times, the Labor Department confirmed that it had received complaints from residents about the construction netting. It said that it had conducted 16 inspections at Wang Fuk Court since July 2024, most recently a week before the fire. It found multiple violations and warned the contractor about unsafe working conditions on the site, the department said.

劳工处在向《纽约时报》提供的声明中确认，曾收到居民关于施工防护网的投诉。该处表示，自2024年7月起已对宏福苑进行了16次巡查，最近一次是在火灾发生前一周。声明指出，巡查发现多项违规，并就现场不安全施工的情况向承建商发出警告。

The department did not answer questions about what violations it discovered. Its statement said, without providing details, that it had started three “prosecutions” and issued six notices “urging improvement” at Wang Fuk Court before the fire.

关于具体违规内容，劳工处未予回答。其声明称火灾前已启动三宗“检控”，并发出六张“敦促改善”通知书，但未提供细节。

Earlier, officials had said that the netting that enveloped scaffoldings at the complex may not have met fire safety standards, which require all scaffolding covers to be made of material that can slow down a fire. On Friday, however, they said the netting was in line with the city’s code, according to preliminary tests. They did not provide details.

早些时候，官员曾表示，覆盖大厦棚架的防护网可能未达到消防标准，该标准要求棚架遮蔽物必须采用阻燃材料。然而，周五他们根据初步检测结果又表示，这些防护网符合本港相关规范，但没有提供具体细节。

They said the blaze raised the temperature inside the building to as high as 930 degrees Fahrenheit and ignited the bamboo scaffolding, which fell and blocked fire exits.

他们表示，大火使建筑内部温度飙升至约500度，引燃的竹棚架坍塌后堵塞了消防通道。

The police arrested two directors and one consultant for the contractor, accusing them of manslaughter and gross negligence, and seized evidence including tender documents, computers, phones and a list of the contractor’s employees.

警方拘捕了承建商两名董事及一名工程顾问，指控他们误杀与严重疏忽，并扣押了标书文件、电脑、手机及员工名册在内的证物。

On Friday, an anticorruption agency arrested eight more people, including four consultants, three subcontractors of scaffolding works, and an intermediary.

周五，廉政公署再逮捕八人，包括四名工程顾问、三名棚架工程分包商及一名中间人。

Last month, when Chinachem Tower, a commercial building in central Hong Kong, caught fire, some Wang Fuk Court residents took their fears to a Facebook group. Firefighters had found netting and bamboo scaffolding at that building that looked similar to what was used at their complex.

上个月，中环的商业楼宇华懋大厦发生火灾后，宏福苑的一些居民在Facebook群组里表达了他们的担忧。消防员当时在那栋大楼发现了与宏福苑类似的防护网和竹棚架。

“Everyone must be extra careful with fire during the winter,” one resident wrote.

“大家冬天一定要小心火种，”一位居民写道。

“There are so many flammable items outside.”

“外面全部都是易燃物品。”

‘They refused’

“他们拒绝了”

Renovation works on the complex began last summer. Its eight towers, which were completed in the early 1980s, were undergoing maintenance to comply with a government rule requiring repairs on structures older than 30 years.

该屋苑的大维修工程始于去年夏天。宏福苑的八座大楼建于上世纪80年代初，为配合楼龄逾30年建筑须强制维修的政府法规而启动维护工程

The renovation was initially slated to cost nearly $40 million, to be borne mainly by the nearly 2,000 households there. Prestige Construction and Engineering, which was incorporated in Hong Kong in 2004, won the contract.

维修工程原本预算为3亿多港币，费用主要由近2000户住户承担。2004年在香港注册成立的宏业建筑工程有限公司中标。

But some residents fretted that the contractor was inflating costs while compromising on safety. They filed a complaint with the Labor Department in September 2024, two months after the scaffolding went up, according to the department and Mr. Poon.

但部分居民担忧承建商在抬高造价的同时偷工减料。据劳工处及潘焯鸿的说法，居民在棚架搭设完成两个月后的2024年9月向劳工处提交了投诉。

They complained about the foam panels that covered the windows, Mr. Poon said.

潘焯鸿指出，居民投诉了覆盖窗户的泡沫板。

早期调查把重点放在了保护窗玻璃的泡沫板上。香港官员表示，这是一种高度易燃材料，助长了火势以惊人的速度蔓延。

Such panels are used on construction sites to provide insulation, fill voids and as temporary protection, according to Tony Za, the former chairman of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers’ building division. What is not clear in this case, he said, is the grade of material the contractor used.

香港工程师学会建造分部前任主席谢伟正说，这类泡沫板通常在工地用于隔热、填缝及临时防护。但他说，在这次事件中，承建商具体使用的是哪种等级的材料仍属不明。

Pictures shared online and interviews with residents show that many windows at Wang Fuk Court were completely sealed with the material. In one building, the police found windows of the elevator lobby were covered by foam boards on every floor.

网上流传的照片及对居民的采访显示，宏福苑许多单位的窗户几乎被这种材料完全封死。在其中一栋大楼里，警方发现所有楼层的电梯厅窗户均被泡沫板封住。

Because of the boards, people could not see out their windows and realize they were in danger when the fire broke out, said Lau Yu Hung, a 78-year-old resident.

78岁的居民刘汝雄（音）表示，由于泡沫板遮挡，火灾发生时居民无法透过窗户察觉险情。

Another point of contention was the netting that enveloped the scaffolding erected all around the buildings. At first, the department told the residents, erroneously, that current regulations “do not cover flame retardant standards for scaffolding netting.”

另一争议焦点是包裹整栋楼宇脚手架的防护网。起初，劳工处曾错误告知居民，现行法规“并没有涵盖关于棚网或任何物料的阻燃标准”。

Frustrated, the residents reached out to Mr. Poon, who runs a nonprofit group, Chinat Monitor, that tracks allegations of corruption in the city’s construction industry and lobbies the government for better oversight.

屡次交涉未果后，居民转而求助潘焯鸿，他是非营利组织中科监察的负责人，专门追踪香港建筑业中的贪腐指控，并推动政府加强监管。

One of Mr. Poon’s causes is flammable netting, which poses a particular risk in Hong Kong because buildings stand very close to one another and winds can spread fires easily. Residents of housing complexes such as Wang Fuk Court, who tend to be older, are less able to flee to safety or hear fire alarms, he said.

防护网的阻燃性是潘焯鸿持续关注的问题之一——在香港，这类隐患风险尤甚，因为楼宇之间距离极近，加上风势容易让火势迅速蔓延。他说，像宏福苑这样的屋苑住户多为长者，逃生能力较弱，也往往听不到火警警报。

Out of concern for older residents, Mr. Poon said he had been trying to raise awareness about such issues. He even inspects constructions sites on his own, at times cutting off netting and setting it on fire to prove that the material violates safety rules.

出于对年长居民的关切，潘焯鸿表示，他一直试图提升社会对此类问题的认知。他甚至亲赴建筑工地，有时会剪下防护网点燃，以证实材料违反安全规范。

Mr. Poon said he had been pushing city officials for about a year and half to pay attention to the issue. “But they refused,” he said.

潘焯鸿透露，他在约一年半的时间里不断敦促市政府官员重视此事。“但他们拒绝了，”他说。

When the residents of Wang Fuk Court came to him, Mr. Poon eagerly took on their case.

当宏福苑居民前来求助时，他当即接手此案。

He admonished officials at the Labor Department for misstating the fire risks at the construction site and pointed them to the applicable ordinances they had missed.

他批评劳工处官员对工地火灾风险的误判，并援引被对方遗漏的适用法规条文。

Later, the department corrected the mistake Mr. Poon had pointed out, acknowledging that its response to the complaints had been “unclear and caused misunderstanding,” it said in its emailed statement to The Times.

之后，劳工处在发给《纽约时报》的电邮声明中承认错误，早前对居民投诉的回应“表述不清引发误解”。

Still, it found no fault with the netting that was worrying some residents, according to emails seen by The Times. Staff members had reviewed quality certificates submitted by the contractor, it said in a written response to residents in December, and the netting was in line with the city’s standard.

然而，根据《纽约时报》看到的邮件，劳工处还是认为居民担忧的防护网不存在问题。该部门在去年12月回信居民时表示，工作人员已经提交了承建商提交的质量证明文件，认为防护网符合香港标准。

“If any violations of occupational safety and health laws are found, we will take action,” one official wrote in an email.

一名官员在邮件中写道：“如果发现有违反职业安全与健康法规的情况，我们会采取行动。”

火灾时的高温足以点燃竹棚架，棚架倒塌后堵住了逃生通道。

The finding appears to rely on the contractors’ own submissions. The department did not respond to questions on whether it conducted its own tests to verify the quality of materials.

目前看来，这些结论似乎依赖于承建商自行提交的文件。对于是否曾独立检测材料质量的问题，劳工处未予回应。

Construction professionals say fraud is a common problem with such certificates in Hong Kong, though there was no evidence so far that this was the case with the Wang Fuk construction.

建筑专业人士表示，在香港，质量证明文件造假是常见问题，尽管目前没有证据表明宏福苑施工中存在此类情况。

“Whether the contractor purchased the same material to be used on the site is another issue that needs to be investigated,” said Mr. Za, the former head of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers’ building division.

前香港工程师学会建造分部主席谢伟正表示：“承建商是否在实际施工中采购了同等标准的材料，这是需要调查的另一关键问题。”