A History of Failure

The building failure in Hung Hom was not Hong Kong's first.

In the past 40 years several such collapses have happened in the Big Lychee, from either landslides or old concrete.

The worst of these occurred in June 1972, after three days of heavy rain (639.2mm, or approximately 25 inches) caused a landslide, sending a garage hurtling from Po Shan Road across Conduit Road into the base of the 12-storey Kotewall Court, which in turn tilted and collapsed, killing 67 people.

In October 1990, residents of a 106-year old three-storey walkup in Sheung Wan noticed a massive crack in the wall in the morning. Later that day the building caved in, injuring six. Adding insult to injury, barely three weeks later the canopy of an industrial building in To Kwa Wan failed, killing six and injuring seven.

In October 1992, a three-story pre-war walkup in Central, empty pending demolition, fell down on its own. No one was hurt.

In July 1994, a landslide in Kennedy Town caused the failure of a masonry retaining wall, killing five and injuring three.

In June 1995, a two-story village house in Tai Po collapsed after saturation from heavy rain. All five people inside escaped with just minor injuries.

In July 2008, a 30-year-old six-storey residential building in Sheung Wan began to tilt after pile-driving at a nearby work site destabilised it. A 15cm (approximately 6 inch) crack ran up several floors, yet government engineers declared the building structurally sound, and after two weeks of repairs 30 people returned home.

And people wonder why we choose to live in new structures away from steep hills.

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