New Territories North (NTN) Region hosted an inter-departmental exercise, "FIRESWEEPER IV", at Shuen Wan Landfill in Tai Po and the nearby Towngas production plant on April 28.  The exercise simulated a passenger aircraft crashing into the area due to mechanical failure, causing mass casualties and triggering off a major explosion at the Towngas production plant. 

 

Over 500 staff members from the Force, Fire Services Department (FSD), Government Flying Service (GFS), Hospital Authority (HA), Auxiliary Medical Service (AMS), Civil Aid Service and Towngas participated in the exercise, which was aimed at strengthening the command and coordination of all the participating government departments and agencies and enhancing their cooperation in dealing with major incidents.

 

Upon the "plane crash", Police, FSD and ambulances rushed to the scene to rescue the wounded and evacuate other people. The HA and AMS activated their disaster response plans to triage and treat the large number of casualties.  GFS helicopters provided overhead surveillance and evacuated serious casualties, and Marine Police vessels conducted search and rescue operations at the sea off the crash scene.

 

In the exercise, the participants handled over 100 dead and injured persons, located and preserved evidence, confirmed the casualty list, and handled many enquiries from the media and public.

 

The exercise concluded successfully with the dedicated efforts of all the players and NTN Region will conduct a comprehensive evaluation with all stakeholders.