Deadly Hong Kong fire raises serious questions over construction safety • FRANCE 24 English

[Music] Hello and welcome to Access Asia. I’m Yuka Hay and these are our main stories this week. More than 300 people dead or missing. The massive fire that engulfed residential towers in Hong Kong has raised serious questions about construction safety in the crowded city. Dozens of people have been swept away in Thailand as unprecedented floods hit several provinces in the south. More than 3 million people have been impacted. And in a world first, a law banning social media for children under 16 is set to go into effect in Australia despite legal challenges. So, how will it work? And what are parents and teens saying? People in Hong Kong are searching for answers after the worst fire they have seen in decades. The blaze that ripped through several seven high-rise apartment blocks took more than 24 hours to bring under control and raised serious questions about safety standards. Several construction company executives were arrested for gross negligence as the fire put the spotlight on the continued use of bamboo scaffolding in the city. It is cheap, flexible, and abundant, but it’s also flammable. In the Hong Kong blaze that began on Wednesday, which has killed dozens, it’s the bamboo scaffolding and its plastic mesh netting that are thought to have first caught fire. While an investigation is still underway in regard to the exact causes of the blaze and why it spread so quickly, firefighters say the collapsed structures complicated rescue efforts. Uh temperature is is very high in the in the fire ground and uh the uh inside layout is very complex because the scaffolding is collapsed. Bamboo has been used for centuries for scaffolding in Asia. In mainland China, it has largely been replaced with sturdier metal scaffolds. But in Hong Kong, the tradition has endured with thousands of registered bamboo scaffolders. In the past, Hong Kong’s government had considered replacing this traditional method, or at least partially. In March, the government said half of the new works must be done in metal. But with the worst fire that Hong Kong has seen in over 70 years, officials confirmed they will now phase it out. While we acknowledge that the use of bamboo scaffolding has a long history in Hong Kong and it offers flexibility, particularly in narrow streets, its fire resistance remains inferior to metal. For safety reasons, the government considers it’s imperative to expedite the full transition to metal. Investigators are looking into whether flame retardant materials were used at the construction site and on the building complex. Police have also raided the company mandated to work on the apartment blocks. They’ve arrested a consultant and two directors on manslaughter charges. Large parts of Southeast Asia remain underwater as cyclone fueled torrential rain has battered Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia for days, triggering severe floods and landslides. Further west, Sri Lanka is also grappling with massive flooding suffering worsening effects of climate change. Low-lying countries in the region are being hit with extreme weather events more and more frequently and severely. Our cla and our colleagues at France television have more. A survivor frantically calling for help as he spots an inflatable boat in the distance. Rising flood waters trapped him and his family in their home. They’ve had to punch a hole through the roof not to drown. In southern Thailand, torrential rain has led to one of the highest death tolls in recent years. In this poor region, residents are taking huge risks. Mom, hold on. Don’t let go. Some balance on power lines while beneath them, giant snakes slither through the town. Whenever a helicopter approaches, Cries for help echo across the area. We just came from a place where the current is really strong. We found a corpse and met residents who wanted to be evacuated. But first, we have to reach those who are sick and bring them food and water. The annual monsoon season brings heavy rains that often trigger landslides and flash floods. But this year, a tropical storm and climate change have exacerbated conditions. The monsoon, usually between June and September, now lasts longer and is more intense across Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, several waves of flooding have killed hundreds of people this year alone. Those who survived have had their lives turned upside down. Looking at the damage, I don’t even know where to start. Everything’s destroyed. Everything we worked so hard for. Further east, the Philippines. The archipelago has been battered by three typhoons in less than 2 months with waves reaching up to 7 m high and record-breaking floods. Just this week in Indonesia, massive landslides and torrential rains have swept across Sumatra Island, cutting off entire communities. Local climate scientists have already warned extreme weather events will continue to worsen as global temperatures keep rising. From the 10th of December, kids under 16 will be banned from social media in Australia. The government has doubled down on the plan to go ahead with it despite a rights advocacy group mounting a lastminute legal challenge against the legislation. For more, I’m joined by Charlotte Lamb, Franc’s very own journalist. Hi, Charlotte. Hi. How are you? So, it’s a world first policy. Why has the Australian government decided to take this drastic step and how are people reacting? Well, it is quite drastic. This ban is all part of Australia’s online safety agreement. And it’s a landmark law that is essentially forcing the big tech to take reasonable steps. So under 16s cannot create social media accounts on platforms like Instagram, Tik Tok, Reddit, and even YouTube. And this comes after years of mounting concern of online safety, of online bullying, um self harm content, and deliberately addictive design that they argue is aimed at children. And I can tell you from my reporting in Australia that there have been years of inquests and major studies all trying to determine the true impacts of social media on adolescence. So for many it’s really a long time coming that something is happening. And the government is framing this law as a way to reduce pressures and dangers that the children face online and it’s seen as a political statement as well as a child’s safety measure. So somewhat like the Australian government is saying here we’re standing with the parents and not big tech. But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Uh there has been a little bit of push back and politicians are regularly fronting media. So we can play more now from the Australian e- safety commissioner. Remember this isn’t a comprehensive prohibition or ban. Uh young people will still be able to interact on uh on messaging platforms. They’ll be able to search the internet for information. They’ll be able to use online gaming platforms. Um so they aren’t going to be uh totally uh disconnected from communi communication um or have their digital lifelines cut. But the changes that um impact our young people will be felt over a much longer period of time which is why we are also u working with a range of academics to evaluate the impacts. Are kids sleeping more? Are they out in the footy fields? Are they interacting more? Um and and we’ll also look for for unintended consequences. So Yuka, even though there was initially push back from the tech companies that we’ll ultimately have to enforce these measures, uh the public is broadly on board with this ban. Polls show most Australian adults adults rather do support it. However, some mental health professionals, they are concerned it could isolate children and it could even force them to more unregulated corners of the internet. So there’s really been a lot of debate for years about this in Australia. How will the ban work in practice? Well, that’s all still yet to be seen and we just heard from the commissioner that the law isn’t designed to keep children off the or under 16s rather off the internet. Uh and it is expected that they will be looking for loopholes come December 10. They will be looking for ways to still access these accounts. Uh but essentially three Meta platforms including oh also additionally Snapchat, Tik Tok and X and YouTube. They could face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars if they don’t take steps that the Australian government sees sees as significant enough to keep under 16year-old Australians from having these accounts. And things are already moving. We saw last week that Meta sent thousands of messages to users that they assume suspect are under 16. And they’re telling them to download their histories, their sorry, their digital histories rather, and delete their accounts before this ban takes effect. So, as you said, Charlotte, the ban is is slated to kick in on Wednesday, December the 10th. Uh, but it’s now facing a constitutional challenge, uh, isn’t it? Filed just days ago. Um, could this legal fight shape how far governments can go in policing young people’s lives in future? Well, this is a case that was just brought forward by a Sydney firm representing two 15year-olds, and they’re part of a an Australia a group of Australians known as the Digital Freedom Project. And on Wednesday, as you said, they did file a constitutional challenge in the high court, arguing that this ban is unconstitutional, and they argue that it’s robbing children of their right to freedom of political communication. The group claims that cutting under 16s off platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok is silencing them in debates that are regularly played out online, and that’s from climate protests to indigenous uh rights. But the communications manager in Australia has doubled down in parliament. We heard from her earlier and she was saying that the ban is set to stay on schedule for December 10 and they will not be deterred by threats particularly from big data and it’s also uh big tech rather. It’s also really important to mention that globally all lies will be on Australia when this does roll out. It is a world first legislation. We know France and Brazil they they’re currently experimenting with age limits and parental consent rules. And we know Malaysia last week was the latest country to join Australia in announcing that they will be banning social media for under 16 year olds from next year. So this could really set a precedent. Well, Charlotte Lamb, thank you so much. Thank you. That’s all for this edition of Access Asia. Thanks for watching, but do stay tuned if you can for more bold news here on France 24. [Music]

People in Hong Kong are searching for answers after the worst fire there in decades. The blaze that ripped through seven high-rise apartment blocks took more than 24 hours to bring under control, and put the spotlight on the continued use of bamboo scaffolding in the city.  
#HongKong #Blaze #Fire

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20 comments

  4. Please note. The problem is not with the bamboos. People took some of those bamboos at the site and used a blow torch to fire on it for minutes and the bamboo won't ignite. The green mesh nets around the scaffolding are easily ignited with a small lighter.

  6. The need to specifically look at the flammable netting material and the use of polystyrene to block ventilation lines. When the netting burned, the effect turned into something similar to the Grenfell Tower fire from 2017, multiplied by seven. No wonder Hong Kong building maintenance crews quickly removed all the flammable netting in the last few days.

  7. REST IN PEACE , PEOPLE OF HONGKONG 🙏🙏🙏✨️✨️✨️❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹😞😞😞

  9. ARE THEY KIDDING, THERE HAS NEVER BEEN DECENT CONSTRUCTION SAFETY MEASURES FOR DECADES THERE. TENANTS HAVE LITERALLY CRUSHED CINDER BLOCKS WITH THEIR HANDS AND REBAR WAS MADE OS FOAM RUBBER COVERING FLEXIBLE LITERAL WIRE INSTALLED INTO BUILDINGS!!! I CAN BET XI HAS POCKETED BILLIONS IN KICKBACKS FOR HIM LOOKING THE OTHER WAY, HERE AS WELL!!! "TOFU BUILDING" WILL NEVER END!!!

  10. Bamboo scaffolding is very effective and used in many places where work is there at height.

    There is not any problem in scaffolding according to me but how it got catch the fire is the question.

  12. WHY COULDN'T CHOPPERS DROP MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER ONTO THOSE BUILDINGS JUST AS THEY DO WITH FOREST FIRES AS WATER IS MINUTES AWAY IN THAT BAY!!

  13. My Question Is …… Where Are The State Building Inspectors?????????????? AS WITH MOST COUNTRIES,,, THERE ARE GOVERNMENT BUILDING INSPECTORS THAT INSURE ALL THE BUILDING CODES ARE IN PLACE AND USED ?????????????????????????????????????

  16. I'm not saying that anyone should not be held responsible for the fire. What I am saying is it should be the government, they are the ones that should be setting and enforcing the standards. We all know but no one from the government is going to go to jail they never do except in communist countries

  17. It’s not the bamboos fault it’s the lack of discipline from workers who are smokers. When it comes to fire there is no safe exit for people who are trap in the top floors.

  18. There needs to be a band against children on social media all across the world. Big Tech is just mad because they won't be able to have the information of these up-and-coming consumers right now.

  19. Here are the problems (1) lacking fire safety culture within the work force e.g. smoking (2) lacking supervision and monitoring from the managers, overseeing fire safety during work and off work hours. (3) Poor design of the protective netting (industry issue) – although the netting does meet the minimum fire safety standard but it has no fire break, meaning once it catches fire and reaches high temperature, the netting becomes the fuse for fire, helping to fan the flame upwards uncontrollably. The netting also helped to trap the heat in when the fire started initially, increasing the risk of other flammable materials combusting, (4) Using substandard and highly flammable foam to protect windows, allowing fire and heat to spread both upward and into the building through broken windows and pipes. (5) Bamboo and planks are flammable material and they react violently (combustion) when the surrounding air reaches high temperature. (6) There is no fire break on the outside, allowing the the buoyancy of the flame to move upward and rapidly, catching people off guard. (7) The close proximity of the buildings helped to channel strong airflow around the buildings, creating 'chimney effect', accelerating the fire to spread upwards as hot air rises quickly above and sucking fresh oxygen into the fire underneath – a perfect airflow to sustain the fire (just like your BBQ). (8) As the surrounding air reached extremely high temperature, any wood and bamboo situated above the fire would start to combust and as it combusted and exploded, the spark ignited the netting at the adjutant building and the process repeated itself (this is how forest fire spreads). (9) The renovator carried out the work simultaneously at all 8 blocks increasing the fire risk of fire jumping from one building to the other. (10) Current fire equipment (not just HK but around the world) is not designed to deal with high rise building fire and becomes hopeless once the fire spreads to upper floor of those buildings and the only thing the fire service could do is often to let it burnt itself out ! On the debate between bamboo and metal scaffolding in terms of fire risk is that bamboo like coal is quite hard to get ignited with small fire (due to its high density) but once the surrounding air reaches extreme temperature, it would combust and it becomes very flammable, creating sparks and helping the fire to accelerate. It might have been a different story if the weather were rainy with high humidity this week instead of dry with only 40% humidity (red fire warning) as the wind shifted from the ocean (during the spring and summer seasons) to continental China (during autumn and winter) which is a lot drier !

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