Tai Po fire review committee to ban recording, filming at first public meeting

2026-02-02 - 23:37

The independent review committee investigating the deadly Tai Po fire has announced that no recording or filming will be allowed at the upcoming first public session, adding that security checks are required for all attendees. Black ribbons hang on railings near Wang Fuk Court on January 30, 2026, two months after a deadly fire. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The independent committee, set up in December and led by Judge David Lok, will hold a direction meeting on Thursday morning at Edinburgh Place in Central. A total of 400 seats are available for members of the public to observe the meeting at Edinburgh Place and at two transmission areas set up in the Hong Kong Central Library and City Gallery. According to the house rules issued by the committee on Monday, all attendees should keep good order and should not display any signs or banners. Attendees are required to undergo security checks before entering the meeting venue. They are not allowed to take photos and videos, record audio, or do live-streaming at the meeting venue. “Any person causing any danger, damage, disruption, or disorder may be directed to leave the Direction Conference Venue and/or refused re-entry,” the house rules also said, adding that the committee may seek help from police if necessary. Judge David Lok. File Photo: The Judiciary. During the direction meeting on Thursday, Lok is expected to outline the investigation protocol and identify the different parties that will attend the hearings, according to a notice issued by the committee on January 20. The independent committee, established by Chief Executive John Lee, is not a commission of inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance. Critics have pointed out that it lacks statutory power, but pro-establishment lawmakers have defended it, saying the committee can complete its work quickly without the burdens of legal procedures. The government said the committee would complete the probe in nine months. Legislature’s role The massive fire at Wang Fuk Court, a government-subsidised housing estate in Tai Po, broke out on November 26, killing 168 people in late November – the deadliest in Hong Kong for nearly eight decades – and displacing nearly 5,000 people. In late November, then-lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen urged the Legislative Council (LegCo) to host a special meeting to probe the inferno and to discuss the settlement for the victims. However, LegCo President Andrew Leung rejected the proposal, saying the legislature had finished its meetings, local media reported. Chief Executive John Lee delivers the 2025 Policy Address on September 17, 2025. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. China’s top official on Hong Kong affairs emphasised the executive-led political system while delivering a speech at a seminar in the city last week. Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, urged the legislature and the judiciary to support the government and not undermine each other. Speaking on a TV programme on Saturday, pro-establishment politician Tam Yiu-chung explained Xia’s comments, saying that LegCo should monitor the government “without overstepping boundaries.” Tam, vice chairman of the think tank Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said that with the government already initiating a probe into the Wang Fuk Court fire, it would be redundant for the legislature to carry out its own investigation.