Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung said officials have stepped up inspections of old buildings following a deadly blaze at a residential building in Jordan last month.

On April 10, a No.3 alarm fire which broke out in New Lucky House killed five people and injured around 40 others.

Speaking on a TVB programme, Yeung said preliminary investigation showed that some of the fire doors were open, which might have led to heavy smoke in one of the staircases.

Yeung said the Fire Services Department has since improved its inspection mechanism, with priority being given to old buildings and those for commercial use.

"We use a risk-based inspection mechanism which decides how often a building should be checked each year based on how risky it is,” he explained.

“After the fire in New Lucky House, we adjusted the mechanism to prioritise inspections of old buildings and commercial premises, hoping to eliminate fire hazards as soon as possible.”

Yeung said 2,000 inspections had been carried out and around 600 fire hazard abatement notices had been issued in the past month.

The fire services director also noted that an amendment bill will be tabled to the Legislative Council in July to raise the penalties for people who violate fire safety regulations.