last occasion the task was beyond the power of the vehicle and personnel had to proceed on foot for 11⁄2 miles in winds exceeding 100 knots carry- ing their rescue gear.
PERSONS IN WELL
124. On Sunday, 6th September 1964, at about 10.20 p.m., 4 persons were overcome by gas in a well in Kowloon Tong. Two were recovered almost at once by fellow workers, and on arrival, a Fire Service diver recovered one more. The fourth in spite of repeated efforts by Fire Service divers and the use of grappling hooks could not be located.
ROCK SLIDE
125. On Friday, 11th September 1964, at 6.10 a.m., Fire Service personnel were called to Shau Kei Wan where 18 persons were buried in their huts on the slope of a hillside by rocks which fell without warning down the hillside during the aftermath of a typhoon. The first-attending Fire Officer described the cries of the trapped victims as heartrending.
126. Using power and hand tools, lines, blocks and tackles, one crew under the personal command of a Divisional Officer was able to lift and wedge a 70 ton boulder sufficiently to release 3 victims, whose limbs were badly crushed.
127. Two more parties under Station Officers commenced the task of tunnelling and shoring to reach some 5 persons trapped under the floor of a demolished hut.
128. After 16 hours work all but 4 of the missing persons were accounted for, 4 being dead, 7 seriously injured and 3 slightly injured. Having decided that further risk to Fire Service personnel was not justified, the Director ordered the termination of operations until daylight.
129. Upon recommencing operations, the next day, and following the recovery of 2 more bodies, and in spite of the shoring, another slide took place trapping a Fire Officer to his waist.
130. Once again the site was 'shored up' and on Sunday (3 days after the original call) the last body was recovered.
131. The courage, endurance and tenacity of Fire Service personnel and the high quality of leadership displayed by Fire Service Officers at this incident was exceptional.
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