An explosion occurred at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal at noon on December 5, followed by the screams of victims who were later declared dead, seriously injured or suffering from shock. The blast threw two victims into the harbour off Kowloon Bay. This was the scenario heralding commencement of Exercise BASEHILL, a major incident exercise to test the initial response and communication at the Forward Control Point (FCP) set up at the scene and the Incident Command Centre (ICC) at Kowloon East (KE) Regional Headquarters.

 

The exercise took place at the Apron of the new world class Cruise Terminal at Kai Tak, leading to the emergency turnout of 239 frontline police officers from KE Region and Marine Harbour Division. A further 120 representatives from Fire Services Department, Hospital Authority and the cruise terminal operator also took part. The Civil Aid Services' Casualty Simulation Team and a platoon of Police Tactical Unit Delta Company also had roles to play in the exercise.

 

Watched by some 120 observers, this inter-departmental exercise lasted for two hours and gave all participants the opportunity to work together at the Cruise Terminal to deal with a major incident, with emphasis on initial response, rescue, command and control both at the scene and the KE Regional Headquarters.

 

At the end of the exercise, KE Deputy Regional Commander Cheng Shuk-chun, Sau Mau Ping District Commander Andrew Lovatt and Senior Superintendent (Operations KE)  Stephen Handley gave an on-site debriefing, highlighting the salient points of the joint exercise.  The exercise succeeded in laying the foundation for a collaborative partnership to deal with an emergency at the terminal and enhancing operational preparedness.