A Hong Kong building inspector reportedly failed to identify illegal alterations to emergency staircases during a deadly fire investigation. The inspector allegedly based his assessment solely on documents without a site visit.

A Hong Kong building inspector mistook illegal alterations to emergency staircases at a housing estate ravaged in a deadly fire as protective measures for “broken” windows, because he based his assessment solely on documents and did not carry out a site visit, a public inquiry has heard. Senior maintenance surveyor Nick Yung Siu-lun, the head of the minor works team of the Housing Bureau’s independent checking unit, said on Thursday he thought the wooden boards used to cover the temporary...