Almost all life-saving fire safety measures failed on the day a devastating blaze tore through a Hong Kong housing complex last year, killing 168 people, a public inquiry has been told.
The 26 November outbreak at Wang Fuk Court, in the financial hub's Tai Po district, was the world's deadliest residential building fire since 1980.
It engulfed seven of the eight residential towers that were undergoing renovations.
They were covered in bamboo scaffolding, protective netting and foam boards that may have contributed to the blaze's rapid spread.
Leading counsel Victor Dawes told the independent committee conducting the inquiry that the fire had "left a scar that is hard to forget" on the city's collective memory.
"Based on the evidence gathered, on the day of the fire almost all of the life-saving fire safety measures failed because of human factors," Mr Dawes told the first day of the hearings.
"This process may be very difficult and heavy ... but only this way can we make Hong Kong a safer city," he said.
Mr Dawes described the blaze as a "facade fire" and said it was the "combined result of multiple factors".
The committee collected more than one million documents, including text and visual testimony from residents, building workers and firefighters, the inquiry was told.
More than 4,600 residents lived in the complex at the time of the fire, Mr Dawes said, over 1,700 of them aged 60 or older.
Clips played at the hearing showed flames shooting up the building and scaffolding falling from the exterior after the fire broke out early in the afternoon.
"There's no fire alarm," voices from one piece of footage could be heard saying.
Mr Dawes showed a clip of residents at one block attempting to use the fire hose and activate the fire alarm as the blaze spread, but both were inoperable.
He also said that falling bamboo had "created extreme difficulty for firefighters" and blocked the main escape route for residents of one of the towers less than half an hour after the alarm was raised.
Government officials, former residents, the directors of construction firms and members of the Wang Fuk Court management committee are expected to appear at the inquiry.
The judge-led committee will investigate whether fire safety standards were inadequate, if construction practices contributed to the blaze, and if there were failures by government officers or contractors.
Police are also conducting a criminal investigation and have arrested 38 people on charges including manslaughter and fraud.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption - Hong Kong's anti-corruption watchdog - said that it has detained 23 people, including consultants, contractors and members of the owners' corporation of the complex.
