Tai Po probe: no emergency alert sent over fears of unpredictable responses – as it happened

Fire service officers reveal no emergency alert was issued during fatal Tai Po blaze, citing fears of public panic and unpredictable responses. | Contesto: cronaca

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• Tai Po probe: no emergency alert sent over fears of unpredictable responses – as it happened

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HONG KONG – Fire service commanders chose not to activate a citywide emergency alert during a catastrophic fire that killed five people at Tai Po's Wang Fuk Court last year, a public inquiry heard on Thursday. Senior officers testifying before an independent, judge-led committee revealed the decision was driven by fears that the alert could trigger public panic and unpredictable crowd movements, potentially hampering rescue operations. The revelation came on the 18th day of evidential hearings scrutinizing the emergency response to the blaze, which also left over 40 residents injured. The three officers from the Fire Services Department who testified, along with four colleagues who gave accounts the previous day, painted a picture of a command structure grappling with a rapidly escalating crisis. Their testimony placed the department's protocols and decision-making processes under intense scrutiny. The committee is tasked with determining whether systemic failures contributed to the tragedy's severity, examining everything from initial dispatch times to on-site resource management and communication strategies. Central to Thursday's hearing was the rationale behind withholding the Emergency Response and Information System (ERIS) alert. The system is designed to broadcast urgent public safety messages via television, radio, and mobile networks. Officers argued that in the dense, high-rise environment of Wang Fuk Court, a mass alert could have caused residents not yet affected by smoke or flames to evacuate en masse into stairwells. This, they contended, would have created dangerous congestion, blocking escape routes for those in immediate peril and impeding firefighters' access to upper floors. The decision highlights a critical dilemma in modern emergency management: balancing the public's right to immediate information against the risks of inciting panic. The officers' defense suggests a command philosophy prioritizing controlled, on-the-ground management over broad public notification. However, this approach is now being questioned, as families of victims and safety advocates wonder if earlier, more widespread awareness could have prompted safer, more orderly...

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Categoria: cronaca