Alibaba hosting service gives contradictory causes for Hong Kong crash

A Hong Kong data center run by Alibaba Group Holding’s (BABA.NYSE) Aliyun cloud computing branch went offline for a 14-hour stretch for which the company has since given differing explanations, Caixin reported. Aliyun initially announced on its Weibo microblog that the issue was caused by a power outage, but later told clients it was the result of a severed cable running between Hong Kong and mainland China. When clients asked whether there was only one such cable connection the firm blamed a power outage. Aliyun later told Caixin the crash was caused by a power outage that also triggered a fire alarm, but Hong Kong’s fire department denied the alarm came from the building hosting the servers.