5 Jul 1978
KAI TAT HONG v. MACK & CO (FREIGHT FORWARDERS) LTD AND OTHERS
- Citation
- KAI TAT HONG v. MACK & CO (FREIGHT FORWARDERS) LTD AND OTHERS
- Court
- Court of First Instance
- Case number
- HCA31/1977
The court found the 1st defendant liable: welding operations adjacent to the neighbour's storage were an extra‑hazardous, non‑natural use of land and were conducted without adequate precautions or supervision, constituting negligence and bringing the situation within both common‑law strict liability for deliberate fires (not excluded by the 1774 Act) and the Rylands v. Fletcher rule; the 2nd defendant (welders) was negligent and must indemnify the 1st defendant; the 3rd defendant was not liable as storage of wax/paints was not proved to have caused or materially contributed to the fire.