​The Fire and Rescue Corps of Guangdong Province, the Hong Kong Fire Services Department (FSD) and the Macao Fire Services Bureau conducted the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) joint emergency response and rescue exercise "Liancheng-2024" in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, from May 27 to today (May 29). The exercise was conducted based on the GBA Emergency Response and Rescue Operational Plan, which aims at formulating and implementing a comprehensive and systematic emergency mobilisation and co-ordination mechanism, thus strengthening the capabilities in the GBA to jointly cope with disasters and incidents.
The cross-boundary exercise simulated a strong earthquake in Pengjiang District, Jiangmen, which affected a wide range of areas. Multiple buildings collapsed, trapping numerous persons and causing a large number of casualties. The Fire and Rescue Corps of Guangdong Province then requested support from rescue teams across the Mainland. Upon notification of the incident, the fire services teams from Hong Kong and Macao immediately deployed personnel to the affected area to assist the rescue operation. The FSD deployed a total of 27 members from the Disaster Response and Rescue Team, five fire appliances and over 400 items of rescue equipment during the exercise. Over the 48-hour exercise, rescue teams from the three places conducted independent and joint operations in 11 different rescue scenarios, including a high-rise building rescue, a tilted building rescue, a collapsed container-based rescue, a rubble rescue, a mudslide rescue, a vertical shaft rescue and a cable-car rescue.
The Deputy Director of Fire Services (Operations), Mr Angus Wong, said during the command meeting that the cross-boundary exercise had demonstrated the efficient deployment of rescue resources among the three places under the Operational Plan, achieving joint prevention and control and complementarity. The three places will consolidate the experience gained from the joint exercise and further optimise the relevant operational procedures, with a view to enhancing the efficiency of cross-boundary rescue efforts.
The governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao are currently formulating the Operational Plan, and are expected to sign the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Emergency Management Co-operation and Greater Bay Area Emergency Response Operation Co-operation Framework Agreement in Hong Kong in mid-June this year. Under the Framework Agreement, personnel from the three places can complement each other's strengths to facilitate the enhancement of emergency response management in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and strengthen the emergency response and rescue capabilities of the three places, injecting impetus into the development of emergency response management and rescue work in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and developing the GBA into a quality living circle ideal for living, working and travelling.
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