Hong Kong's housing minister resigns after fire investigation finds inadequate oversight

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong leader John Lee apologized Thursday and said his housing secretary resigned after an investigation into the city’s deadliest fire in decades found inadequate regulatory oversight.

The massive fire that broke out last November engulfed seven buildings in an apartment complex in a northern suburban district, killing 168 people and displacing thousands of others.

Many former residents of Wang Fuk Court have spent nearly a year waiting to see how the government will address accountability for the disaster that claimed their loved ones and their homes , which were then undergoing building maintenance work.

At the opening of the news conference, Lee and seven other top officials bowed in apology. Lee said Housing Secretary Winnie Ho “should bear political responsibility," although no personal wrongdoing was found. He said Ho had resigned Wednesday.

During the investigation, an independent committee found that the Housing Bureau’s independent checking unit failed in its duties supervising the maintenance work.

The committee's work is separate from criminal investigations in which seven people and two companies were charged with offenses including manslaughter and conspiracy to defraud over the fire.

Authorities alleged that the two companies and some defendants conspired together to defraud the apartment owners by concealing previous litigation records of the company later awarded the renovation project, a contract worth more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars (over $38 million).