Hong Kong’s Jumbo Floating Restaurant catches fire before opening, kills 34 – SCMP archive

Aberdeen was yesterday (October 30, 1971) rocked by a tremendous explosion followed by fire which swept through the $14 million Jumbo Restaurant, killing 13 and injuring at least 42 others on board.

It happened so quickly that within five minutes, fire engulfed the four-decked floating restaurant, reducing it to a charred hulk.

Hundreds of people leapt for life from the decks and from the pagoda-shaped towers of the palatial restaurant.

It was a frantic scene of struggle for survival which grasped boat people and weekend yachtsmen nearby who watched in horror.

The news of the fire and the high toll shocked Aberdeen.

Just how hard the blow was to the fishing community could not be immediately ascertained, as a large number of the casualties are believed to come from Aberdeen itself.

Cause of the high toll was the presence on board of 200 painters, welders and workers putting the finishing touches for the opening of the restaurant scheduled for November 17.

The Chief Fire Officer, Mr H. T. J. Hutchins, who directed the fire fighting operations, attributed the high toll to the rapid spread of the fire, coupled with a series of explosions, and the difficulties in getting out.

“The only exit is jumping into the sea,” the Chief Officer, Hongkong, said.

The water was full of bobbing heads, and boats of all descriptions rushed to pick them up.

One of the early parties who dashed to the scene was six police officers from Aberdeen.

They were Detective Inspector James Bruce, Blue Beret Inspector P. M. Mullens, and Detective Inspector L. Burton, Cpl Lam Kam-yat and two constables.

They spotted the fire from the station, and rushed to nearby boats for the rescue.

“A dozen of them were clinging to the sides of the Jumbo restaurant,” Insp Bruce said.

“They were badly burned and were shouting for help,” he said.

After picking up these survivors, the police officers continued the rescue work in the vicinity picking up more people.

Several sampans near the floating restaurant were not spared from the holocaust.

Four children of a boat family were burned to death when their craft caught fire and was completely gutted.

Their grief-stricken father, Wong Fat-hoi, 46, told the police of the tragedy after he helped his wife ashore.

The children were left on the boat when Mr Wong and three other members of his family were ashore.

When he and his wife heard of the fire, they rushed back only to find the four had perished.

Mrs Wong who collapsed on hearing the news was rushed to hospital.

A fisherman, Mr Chan Kan-tai, 23, tried desperately to row to his boat where his mother-in-law and several children were but the intense heat and leaping flames forced him to turn back.

The family had all jumped safely into the water, and only his mother-in-law was hurt with burns in the back, Mr Chan later learned.

Mr Chang Ching-sing, one of the restaurant’s stewards who escaped, said the fire broke out at the stern on the lowest deck of the ship at about 3 pm.

Welding was being carried out in the section of the ship, he said.

The fire quickly swept through the whole craft.

“Everyone had to jump as the fire was burning fiercely,” he said.

A yachtswoman who witnessed the start of the fire, said many workers on the upper decks who went to the stern to have a look soon found themselves trapped as the fire rapidly spread upwards.

Mr Hutchins said his men removed 61 casualties to hospital. Police launches might have picked up more, he said.

He believed the fire started as a result of an explosion apparently from a large quantity of oil and a number of oxy-acetylene tubes on board.

Investigations into the disaster had already begun, Mr Hutchins said.

The Acting Governor, Sir Hugh Norman-Walker, last night sent his sympathy to the families of the victims.

In a message from Government House, Sir Hugh said he was shocked to learn of the tragic news.