The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government conducted its second large-scale drill at the Huanggang Port Hong Kong Port Area on Saturday to further test the overall management of passenger and vehicular flows at the port building and the public transport interchange.

Also, an inter-departmental counter-terrorism and major incident exercise was held to boost various departments’ response capabilities in emergency cases, the SAR government said in a press release.

In the second large-scale drill at the facility, the exercise mobilized about 5,000 civil servants from around 30 departments.

The first large-scale exercise on Aug 13 involving approximately 1,000 civil servants from over 20 departments successfully tested the overall management of passenger and vehicular flows at both the port building and the public transport interchange.

Earlier, the SAR authorities announced that more than 100 tests and drills will be conducted to assess traffic flow, crowd control and anti-terrorism measures of the new port ahead of its official opening, the date for which will be announced once the port is fully ready for safe and smooth operation.

During Saturday’s drill, participants took various modes of public transport to arrive at the port. Later, they proceeded to the departure hall and the arrival hall of the port building. Then they left the port by taking public transport as instructed.

RELATED ARTICLES

• New Huanggang Port to undergo over 100 tests, drills before opening
• Huanggang Port upgrade nears completion as HK-side area begins commissioning
• HKSAR, Shenzhen sign deal on Huanggang port colocation arrangement
• HKSAR authorized partial jurisdiction over new Huanggang port

Involving more than 250 departures to simulate the flow of people and vehicles arriving and departing from the port, participants and vehicles dispatched by various public transport operators took part in cyclical trials.

To test the relevant crowd-control arrangements, participants simulated queuing for immigration clearance procedures in the departure hall and the arrival hall.

During the drill, which featured a new “crowd concentrated-flow test”, a large number of participants were first held on designated floors, in order to create a short-term unforeseen surge pressure by subsequently simulating a situation where an influx of passengers arrive and proceed to the public transport interchange.

The exercise involved various types of tests, including simulating the operational arrangement of small vehicles crossing the boundary, simulating a large number of departing passengers queuing to use the clearance facilities and a large number of passengers gathering at the public transport interchange to wait for individual public transport services.

Other tests involved the Department of Health’s quarantine station discovering suspected cases of infection and requesting ambulancemen for cooperation in handling the situation, and taxi management arrangements in response to a large number of taxis going to the public transport services.

An inter-departmental counter-terrorism and major incident exercise at the departure hall on the fifth floor of the port building followed the flow test. It simulated a scenario in which extremists launched a shooting attack after they were discovered to possess firearms and ammunition, causing mass casualties and requiring immediate evacuation.

Also, different departments conducted a major-incident exercise, which simulated a serious traffic accident on the new connecting road to the port, thereby hindering vehicles from using the original route to enter the port.

Traffic was redirected under police instruction to use the southbound route, with one-lane two-way, intermittent access to the port’s public transport interchange. Vehicles were also directed to leave the port and return to the urban area.

After inspecting the drill on-site, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung held a meeting with the participating departments to review the flow and suggestions given by the participants, in order to make further enhancements in subsequent drills.

The whole drill was conducted smoothly, the HKSAR government said, adding that it will continue to conduct drills and tests of various scales to improve detailed arrangements to prepare comprehensively for the opening of the port.