Asia-Pacific News
Human error investigated in Hong Kong blaze that killed firefighter
Mar 18, 2010, 3:48 GMT
Hong Kong - Investigators were looking into whether human error contributed to the death of a firefighter in a Hong Kong factory blaze, officials said Thursday.
Senior fireman Yeung Chun-kit, 47, died after being pulled from under rubble by his colleagues March 8 as the fire spread through a knitting factory building.
Investigators revealed that reinforcements to the fire had been delayed after a message sent earlier from the scene to the control centre was deleted by an operator.
As a result, the fire was not upgraded to a more serious level for a further 18 minutes, said fire department deputy director Andy Chan.
Chan described the incident as 'rare' and said the investigation would now focus on whether this delay caused by the human error contributed to the death of the firefighter by causing the fire to spread or by affecting firefighting strategies.
Three other firefighters were injured, two of them seriously, in the fire in the Cheung Sha Wan district.
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