'Water stopped after 30 seconds': Worker recounts failed attempt to fight fatal Wang Fuk Court fire

A construction worker who may have been one of the closest people to the origin of the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire testified Friday that his initial attempt to douse the flames was thwarted when a water hose stopped working after just 30 seconds. The worker, Chung Yun-sun, appeared as the first witness at the 14th hearing of the Independent Committee's inquiry into the blaze.

Chung testified that on the day of the fire, he was working on the scaffolding on the fourth floor of Wang Cheong House. 

He first heard someone shout "Fire!" and saw flames below. He immediately tried to put out the fire with a hose. He stated that there was a rooftop water pipe for his colleagues and tried to turn on the water, but it stopped flowing after about 30 seconds. 

Ultimately, he did not return to the construction site but instead climbed down the scaffolding with his colleagues to escape.

CCTV footage from around 2.40pm that day showed shouts of "Fire!" and someone asking "Who's smoking?" on the scaffolding. 

Barrister Lee Shu-wun, representing the Independent Committee, described Chung as possibly one of the scaffolding workers closest to the source of the fire. 

Lee asked Chung if he knew his colleagues had safely evacuated. Chung said he didn't know at first but later learned they were safe and had successfully evacuated.

Regarding the issue of workers smoking, Chung told the police that he was also a smoker but had never smoked on the scaffolding. At the time of the incident, his coworkers had asked each other if anyone had smoked or left any embers.

During the two or three months he worked on the site, his work area was separated by fencing and therefore difficult to see if any other workers were smoking on the scaffolding. 

He confirmed that there were no designated smoking areas on the site and that he would not bring cigarettes with him while working on the scaffolding, only smoking after his work was finished for the day.