There are currently more than a thousand pedestrian walkways and underpasses in Hong Kong, but some of them overlap other pedestrian crossing structures on the ground, resulting in a very low utilization rate, and have evolved into the residences of many road sleepers. There are also street sleepers living in the pedestrian tunnel of Nanchang MTR station, which is sparsely populated. There have been fires in the last few months. Recently, an arson attack is suspected. A young woman sleeping on the street suffered burns on her hands while fleeing. A representative of a community organization stated in no uncertain terms that the security alarm had been raised and that the “fire attack and water attack” threatened the lives of the homeless. There are also those who say that if the government continues to ignore the “hidden bombs” and adopts the “do nothing” policy for the design of pedestrian tunnels, the consequences will be disastrous.
The fire emergency, in fact, had already been foreseen: in just one month, two fires followed one another in the tunnel. At around 5 am on the 13th last month, the pedestrian tunnel at the D1 entrance of Nanchang MTR station was suspected to have been caused by cigarette butts igniting miscellaneous objects of those sleeping on the street, causing a fire. and a large area of the wall was blackened. A reporter from our newspaper visited the scene 2 days after the accident and found that many of the furniture had been burned, and the stinky smell persisted for a long time.
At around 10:00 pm on the 19th of this month, the pedestrian tunnel leading to Shenwang Road, connected to Nanchang Station Exit C, was suspected of being set on fire. hand burns. The case was handed over to the Police Criminal Squad for investigation, and the fire caused the closure of Exit C of Nanchang Station. It is understood that there are more than 10 road sleepers in the whole tunnel, and social workers are also following up on the case.
The pedestrian tunnel connecting Exit D1 and Exit C of Nam Cheong MTR Station leads to large residential complexes such as Nam Cheong Estate, Fu Cheong Estate, Tai Kok Tsui Harbor Court and Cheung Sha Wan Fish Wholesale Market . And when the station is open, the two exits can communicate through the interior of the station, but after the station is closed at night, the tunnel will be effective. Many citizens are worried that the fire alarm will go off at the MTR station anytime in the future, and people sleeping on the street will have a better chance of causing tragedy because they cannot deal with the sudden fire while sleeping.
Some middle school students who passed by said they did not know there was a pedestrian tunnel at the above site, and they mainly used the station to enter and exit, but Kemmy, a student, said he did not never used the tunnel and did not know anyone who lived at the site. The reporter remained at the scene for nearly an hour after the first fire and found that there were very few people using the tunnel, just a few delivery men on bicycles and a pedestrian passing by.
Wu Weidong, director of the Association of Community Organizations, pointed out that street sleepers rarely rest here in summer because there is no convective wind. On the contrary, more street sleepers choose this place in winter. He is concerned that similar incidents could happen again and that the homeless might be sleeping and vulnerable when the fire broke out. He stressed that “fire attacks and water attacks” all threaten the lives of the homeless and appealed to the public to give them due respect. For example, he pointed out that the current shortage of temporary housing for street sleepers can’t keep up with the increase in the number of street sleepers, and the number of raw “tile” beds has also declined , and who sleeps on the street “I don’t know where to go”. Wu again urged the government to formulate “homelessness-friendly policies” to protect the fundamental rights and interests of the homeless, and admitted that the current lack of a comprehensive homelessness policy is disappointing.
The Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene responded to this newspaper’s inquiry last month and said it had received 3 complaints about environmental sanitation issues at the site in the past month and had participated in 10 joint operations. environmental hygiene caused by the occupation of street sleepers, the waste and garbage voluntarily disposed of by the street sleepers will be cleaned up and thorough cleaning will be carried out. If the situation permits, daily cleaning and cleaning services will be provided at the place of collection of street sleepers.
As far as the Highways Department is concerned, the MTR Corporation is responsible for the structural maintenance of this section of the pedestrian tunnel, and the Department is responsible for the maintenance of the interior finishes and lighting systems. After the first fire alarm, the department immediately investigated the damage to the structures at the construction site and found that the lighting structures were damaged. The next day, they installed temporary lighting and commissioned an independent inspection consultant to conduct further inspections to confirm that the damage to the structures was intact and an immediate danger to pedestrians, and the department will begin repairs to the interior finish of the pipeline and the lighting system, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.
