HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s leader announced Tuesday the creation of a judge-led “independent committee” to investigate the devastating fire at an apartment complex that killed 151 people last week.
Authorities have said the blaze, which was the city’s worst fire in decades, spread quickly via netting used on exterior scaffolding that fell short of fire-resistance standards and failed to stop flames from spreading.
“I will establish an independent committee to conduct comprehensive and in-depth review to reform the building work system and prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future,” the city’s leader John Lee told a news conference in English, adding that the committee would be led by a judge.
Hong Kong has a legal mechanism to set up “commissions of inquiry,” which in the past were usually led by judges to undertake complex fact-finding exercises — a practice left over from British colonial rule.
Lee used a different term, “independent committee,” on Tuesday.
Lee said that authorities had identified several failures, and that reforms would be needed in safety, supervision, construction and maintenance standards.
“We must act seriously to ensure that all these loopholes are plugged so that those who are responsible will be accountable. The shortcomings will be addressed. The bottlenecks will be addressed,” he said.
“We will reform the whole building renovation system to ensure that such things will not happen again.”
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog and police, running a joint investigation, have arrested a total of 14 people, 13 of them on suspicion of manslaughter over the blaze.
“The responsible culprits tried to mix up substandard net with qualified nets so as to cheat inspection and law enforcement agencies,” Lee said, calling the suspects “evil.”
The city has seen a massive outpouring of grief as well as calls for accountability, but local media reported the arrests of several people who were calling for answers.
Miles Kwan, a 24-year-old student, was reportedly arrested by police for “seditious intent” after handing out flyers demanding government accountability.
An online petition containing Kwan’s four demands, which included calls for an independent probe, gathered more than 10,000 signatures in less than a day before its contents were wiped.
Two other people, including former district councilor Kenneth Cheung, were also taken in by police, according to local media reports.
Asked about the arrests, Lee said that “I will not tolerate any crimes, particularly crimes that exploit the tragedy that we have been facing now.”
The world’s deadliest residential building fire since 1980 broke out on Wednesday at the high-rises of Wang Fuk Court in the city’s northern Tai Po district.
Police completed searches in five of the seven affected towers on Monday, finding the remains of victims in apartments, hallways and stairs.
Some families of victims returned to Wang Fuk Court on Monday to begin traditional funeral rites, which are expected to continue.
Hong Kong leader announces ‘independent committee’ to probe fire
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Hong Kong leader announces ‘independent committee’ to probe fire
- The blaze spread quickly via netting used on exterior scaffolding that fell short of fire-resistance standards
- Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog and police, running a joint investigation, have arrested a total of 14 people
Climate activist group files second lawsuit against Sweden
- Sweden’s Supreme Court in February 2025 ruled that the complaint filed against the state was inadmissible
- “We still have a chance to get out of the planetary crises and build a safe and fair world,” Edling said
STOCKHOLM: A group of climate activists said Friday they were filing another lawsuit against the Swedish state for alleged climate inaction, after the Supreme Court threw out their case last year.
The group behind the lawsuit, Aurora, first tried to sue the Swedish state in late 2022.
Sweden’s Supreme Court in February 2025 ruled that the complaint filed against the state — brought by an individual, with 300 other people joining it as a class action lawsuit — was inadmissible.
The court at the time noted the “very high requirements for individuals to have the right to bring such a claim” against a state.
“We still have a chance to get out of the planetary crises and build a safe and fair world. But this requires that rich countries that emit as much as Sweden stop breaking the law,” Aurora spokesperson Ida Edling said in a statement Friday.
The group, which said the lawsuit had been filed with the Stockholm District Court Friday, said it believes the Swedish state is obligated “to reduce Sweden’s emissions as much and as quickly as necessary in order for the country to be in line with its fair share.”
“This means that emissions from several sectors must reach zero before 2030,” the group said, while noting this was 15 years before Sweden’s currently set targets.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency as well as the OECD warned last year that Sweden was at risk of not reaching its own goal of net zero emissions by 2045.
While the first lawsuit was unsuccessful, the group noted that international courts had made several landmark decisions since the first suit was filed, spotlighting two in particular.
In an April 2024 decision, Europe’s top rights court, the European Court of Human Rights, ruled that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change, the first country ever to be condemned by an international tribunal for not taking sufficient action to curb global warming.
In 2025, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion stating that countries violating their climate obligations were committing an “unlawful” act.
