宏福苑大火调查报告公布 李家超鞠躬致歉何永贤辞职Hong Kong Leader Apologizes and Housing Chief Resigns Over Deadly Fire

在独立调查委员会报告公布的记者会开场时，行政长官李家超率领另外七位主要官员起立鞠躬，向火灾遇难者和全港市民公开致歉。李家超表示，自己对这起夺去168条生命的惨剧深感悲痛，并强调特区政府必须严肃落实刑事、政治和行政问责，避免同类灾难再次发生。

At the opening of the Thursday press conference detailing the inquiry findings, Chief Executive John Lee and seven other senior officials stood and bowed in apology to victims and the public. Lee said he felt deeply sorrowful about the disaster that killed 168 people, promising structural reforms to ensure such an incident would not recur, while emphasizing that authorities must strictly enforce criminal, political, and administrative accountability across all involved institutions.

作为问责措施的一部分，房屋局局长何永贤已于周三递交辞呈，成为首位因宏福苑大火去职的问责官员。调查报告指出，何永贤所领导的房屋局独立审查组在政策与执行层面均存在失职，比屋宇署承担更大的监督责任。虽然独立调查未认定何永贤个人存在违规操作，但她仍辞职承担政治责任。其职务已由财政司副司长黄伟纶接管，负责统筹后续整改与公共房屋审查机构的重组。

As part of those accountability measures, Housing Secretary Winnie Ho tendered her resignation on Wednesday, becoming the first government official to step down over the Tai Po blaze. The independent committee concluded that the Housing Bureau's Independent Checking Unit, which Ho oversaw, bore a greater share of responsibility than the Buildings Department because its failures spanned both policy direction and operational execution. Although the investigation cleared Ho of personal wrongdoing, she stepped down to assume political responsibility. Her portfolio was transferred to Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong, who immediately assumed oversight of housing reforms and the restructuring of the checking unit.

调查委员会的证据显示，火灾源于宏昌楼一楼104与105室外平平台上的阴燃。虽然现场缺乏直接确凿证据，但环绕的大量间接事实证明，极可能是工人遗留的未熄灭香烟引燃了纸皮箱等纸质废料。现场留有多枚烟头及部分烧毁的包装材料，且多方证言证实施工人员此前数月频繁在脚手架和工地违规吸烟。

The inquiry concluded that the fire began outside flats 104 and 105 on the first-floor flat roof of Wang Cheong House. Although investigators lacked direct physical evidence proving a cigarette started the blaze, substantial circumstantial evidence indicated that a glowing source—most likely a lit cigarette discarded by workers—ignited combustible paper materials such as cardboard boxes. Investigators recovered multiple cigarette butts and partially burned packaging from the flat roof, corroborating extensive testimony that construction crews routinely smoked across the site and scaffolding in preceding months.

报告指出，大火并非单纯天灾，而是劣质材料与人为违规相互叠加的后果。当时宏福苑全部八座楼宇均搭设脚手架进行外墙维修，承建方不仅违规使用不具备阻燃特性的棚网与帆布，还长期使用易燃发泡胶板封堵各座窗户，并在逃生楼梯间违规开设通道口。易燃物堆积导致火势迅速向高层蔓延，多数罹难者死于浓烟窒息而非烧伤。

The 1,154-page report stressed that the disaster was intensified by compounding human errors rather than uncontrollable natural causes alone. All eight blocks were enveloped in scaffolding for facade renovations, during which contractors used non-fire-retardant scaffolding nets and canvases while sealing residential windows with inflammable foam boards for extended periods. Furthermore, unauthorized access openings cut into escape staircases allowed deadly fumes to penetrate evacuation routes rapidly, resulting in smoke inhalation as the primary cause of death for most victims.

调查委员会在报告中对负责宏福苑3.36亿港元（约合4285万美元）外墙翻新工程的总承建商宏业建筑（PC&E）和顾问公司威信建筑提出严厉批评，直指私营机构从业者是不法行为的核心推手。报告指出，这两家机构清楚知晓现场潜在火灾风险，却非出于偶发疏漏，而是蓄意使用劣质材料并推行危险施工流程，包括违规采用无阻燃资格的棚网和发泡胶板。此外，两家企业及相关工程人员还涉嫌在工程检验文件中填报虚假资料，以伪造合规假象逃避监管机构抽查。

The independent committee singled out main renovation contractor Prestige Construction & Engineering (PC&E) and consultant Will Power Architects for the most severe criticisms, describing unscrupulous private-sector entities as the primary culprits behind the disaster. According to the inquiry, the two companies overseeing the HK$336 million (US$42.85 million) facade project were fully aware of the acute fire risks on site. The committee found their misconduct went beyond mere oversights or negligence, involving the intentional use of substandard materials, unsafe procedures, and the submission of falsified compliance paperwork to mislead government oversight bodies.

除了具体的工程违规外，调查揭露建筑行业长期存在系统性、大范围的不法与可疑操作，包括围标串通以及部分涉案人员勾结本地黑帮集团等恶习。此前执法部门已就这起严重火灾展开刑事行动，抓捕了包括承建商、工程顾问及检验人员吴若在内的数十名嫌疑人，分别调查其涉嫌误杀、欺诈和贪腐等罪名。特区政府在发布会上指出，不法承建商和顾问机构是酿成惨剧的主要祸根，司法机关将紧密跟进后续刑事起诉程序。

The 1,154-page report further exposed widespread, systemic, and long-standing practices across Hong Kong's construction sector that were unlawful and dubious, including renovation bid-rigging and connections between certain industry figures and local mafias. Law enforcement authorities had already arrested dozens of suspects, including contractor executives, consultants, and project inspector Wilson Ng Yeuk, on suspicion of manslaughter, fraud, and corruption. Officials emphasized that criminal accountability will be pursued vigorously against the private firms and individuals whose coordinated malpractice enabled the deadly catastrophe.

调查委员会在报告中认定，除了私营工程机构存在不法行为外，公权力部门长达数十年的失职也是导致灾难的重要根源。报告指出，房屋局独立审查组、屋宇署、消防处和劳工处四个机构在日常监管中普遍缺乏危机意识，未能充分留意私营企业违规的可能性。如果这些部门保持警觉并及早采取行动，宏福苑现场长期存在的消防隐患及承建方的危险违规做法本可得到纠正。

Beyond the unlawful conduct of private contractors, the inquiry report attributed the disaster to decades of systemic failures across relevant public agencies. The committee concluded that four government entities—the Housing Bureau's Independent Checking Unit, the Buildings Department, the Fire Services Department, and the Labour Department—displayed a severe lack of crisis awareness and failed to pay sufficient heed to the possibility of private-sector misconduct. Investigators noted that had these departments maintained proper vigilance and intervened promptly, the fire hazards and dangerous practices at Wang Fuk Court could have been rectified before lives were lost.

针对监管机构暴露的严重纰漏，行政长官李家超宣布对上述四家政府部门启动第二级部门首长问责制调查，计划在三个月内完成审查，以确定是否存在公职人员玩忽职守或监管失责的行为。港府表示，行政问责必须同刑事诉讼紧密结合，若调查发现公务人员存在失职或违纪，将依法依规严肃处理，并以此为契机全面重整各涉事部门在建筑工程中的消防安全监管流程。

Addressing these regulatory lapses, Chief Executive John Lee confirmed that authorities have initiated an inquiry into the four agencies under the second tier of the Heads of Department Accountability System. The investigation, scheduled for completion within three months, will determine whether individual civil servants and inspection personnel were derelict in their duties. Lee affirmed that administrative accountability will be pursued alongside criminal proceedings, with any substantiated bureaucratic misconduct facing formal disciplinary action as part of an overhaul of safety oversight across government bodies.

为铲除大厦维修行业的腐败与违规根源，特区政府公布了一系列深层次体制改革措施。官员在记者会上指出，围标串通是滋生工程隐患与劣质施工的源头，当局计划推进立法将围标行为正式入刑，以加大对工程招投标领域违法勾结的震慑力。此外，特区政府将设立专门机构，协助业主处理繁复的楼宇维修与翻新工程事务，防范业主因专业知识不足而落入不法工程中介与承建商设下的串通圈套。

To eliminate the entrenched roots of malpractice across building renovations, the Hong Kong government announced a wide-ranging package of structural and statutory reforms. Officials identified bid-rigging as the fundamental source of industry-wide hazards and substandard practices, proposing to formally criminalize the collusive behavior to enhance deterrence against contractor syndicates. Alongside these penal provisions, authorities plan to establish a dedicated public body tasked with assisting homeowners through the complicated process of building maintenance projects, protecting residents from exploitative bidding schemes orchestrated by unscrupulous private actors.

在部门架构与现场执法机制层面，副财政司长黄伟纶确认，房屋局原有的独立审查组将被彻底撤销，由新设立的公营房屋控制机构取而代之，以重塑对公共住宅翻新工程的行政把关。同时，针对导致火灾的工人违规吸烟顽疾，政府官员透露正在探讨运用科技手段加强工地稽查，未来可能部署搭载红外摄像头的无人机并结合人工智能算法，精准识别高空脚手架及作业现场的吸烟人员，防止现场再次积聚未熄火源。

On administrative and operational fronts, Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong confirmed that the Housing Bureau's Independent Checking Unit will be disbanded and replaced by a public housing control body to establish rigorous oversight over public residential works. In addition, addressing the widespread problem of workers smoking on scaffolding that triggered the disaster, government officials stated they are exploring technological enforcement measures. Authorities may deploy drones equipped with infrared cameras and artificial intelligence capabilities to detect and identify individuals smoking on active construction sites and elevated platforms, curbing fire hazards before ignition occurs.