A huge fire still burning in a Hong Kong apartment complex that has killed at least 55 people and left nearly 300 missing may have been caused by a “grossly negligent” construction firm using unsafe materials, police said on Thursday.
Almost a full day after the fire began, firefighters were struggling to reach residents potentially trapped on the upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex due to intense heat and thick smoke from the blaze that erupted on Wednesday afternoon.
The tightly packed complex in the northern Tai Po district has 2,000 apartments in eight blocks that are home to more than 4,600 people in a city struggling with chronic shortages of affordable housing.
“We bought [a place] in this building more than 20 years ago. All of our belongings were in this building, and now that it has all burned like this, what’s left?” asked a 51-year-old resident with the surname Wan.
“There’s nothing left. What are we supposed to do?”
A firefighter was among the 55 killed, with dozens in hospital in critical condition, Hong Kong authorities said on Thursday afternoon. Around 279 people remain uncontactable.
Chung said 900 residents were spread across eight shelters.
A woman surnamed Ng, 52, was distraught as she searched for her daughter outside a shelter. “She and her father are still not out yet. They didn’t have water to save our building,” she sobbed, carrying her daughter’s graduation photo.
Video from the scene showed flames leaping from at least two of the 32-storey towers sheathed in green construction mesh and bamboo scaffolding.
The fire was still burning on Thursday afternoon, more than 24 hours after it started. Authorities said they had brought the blaze in four of seven blocks under control, with operations continuing in three. Bamboo scaffolding is a mainstay of traditional Chinese architecture but has been subject to a phase-out in Hong Kong since March for safety reasons.
Three arrested
Police officers searched the housing estate’s building maintenance company on Thursday morning, seizing documents that mention Wang Fuk Court, local media reported. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We have reason to believe that the companys, responsible parties were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties,” said Eileen Chung, a Hong Kong police superintendent.
Three men from the construction company, two directors and one engineering consultant, had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the fire, she added.
Police said in addition to the buildings being covered with protective mesh sheets and plastic that may not meet fire standards, they discovered some windows on one unaffected building were sealed with a foam material, installed by a construction company carrying out year-long maintenance work.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that two Indonesian migrant workers “in the domestic sector” died in the fire and two others were injured.
The death toll is now the highest in a Hong Kong fire since 1948, when 176 people were killed in a warehouse blaze. “The priority is to extinguish the fire and rescue the residents who are trapped,”
Hong Kong’s corruption body said it has launched an investigation into suspected corruption related to the renovation. Lee told reporters. “The second is to support the injured. The third is to support and recover. Then, we’ll launch a thorough investigation.”
AFP journalists at the scene just after daybreak on Thursday saw some flats still burning, although the blaze had noticeably dimmed during the early hours of the morning.
Intense flames first took hold on bamboo scaffolding on several 31-storey apartment blocks of Wang Fuk Court on Wednesday in the northern district of Tai Po, which was undergoing estate-wide repairs.
An AFP reporter heard loud cracking sounds, possibly from the burning bamboo, and saw thick plumes of smoke billowing from the buildings as flames and ash reached high into the sky.
A 65-year-old resident surnamed Yuen said he had lived in the complex for more than four decades and that many of his neighbours were elderly and might not be mobile.
“The windows were closed because of the maintenance, [some people] didn’t know there was a fire and had to be told to evacuate via phone calls by neighbours,” Yuen told AFP. “I’m devastated.”
Hong Kong’s fire department raised the death toll to 44 on Thursday morning.
Among the dead was a 37-year-old firefighter, who was found with burns on his face half an hour after losing contact with colleagues, according to the fire service director Andy Yeung.
A government spokesman told AFP that 56 people were being treated in hospital. Sixteen were in a critical condition, 24 in a serious condition and 16 were stable.
‘Unable to reach people’
A police officer at a temporary shelter told AFP it was unclear how many people were unaccounted for because residents were still trickling in late into the night to report missing family members.
Sections of charred scaffolding fell from the burning blocks and flames could be seen inside apartments, sometimes belching out through windows into the night sky, casting an eerie orange glow on surrounding buildings.
“The temperature at the scene is very high and there are some floors where we have been unable to reach people who requested help, but we will keep trying,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, the deputy director of fire service operations.
He said the fire likely spread from one building to another due to the wind and drifting debris, although he added that authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze.
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed condolences to the victims, including “the firefighter who died in the line of duty”, according to state media.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was deeply saddened at the tragic loss of lives and property.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to President Xi Jinping and the Chinese nation, particularly the people of Hong Kong on this tragic incident,” he said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families, and we wish a speedy recovery to all those injured,” he said.
“Pakistan stands in solidarity with the people and government of China, especially the Hong Kong SAR (special administrative region), during this difficult time. May the affected families find strength and healing. Pakistan and China will always stand together,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also said he was deeply saddened to learn about the “devastating fire”.
“On behalf of the government and people of Pakistan, I extend our deepest condolences and profound sympathy to you, the Hong Kong special administrative region government, and especially to the families of the victims. Our thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones, and we pray for the swift and complete recovery of the injured,” he said.
‘Dare not leave’
A Tai Po resident surnamed So, 57, said the fire was “heartbreaking”.
“There’s nothing that can be done about the property. We can only hope that everyone, no matter old or young, can return safely,” So told AFP.
An apartment owner in his 40s who did not want to give his name told AFP that the government needed to help those made homeless by the blaze.
“The fire is not yet under control and I dare not leave, and I don’t know what I can do,” he said.
Residents were seen being evacuated via large coaches, with local media reporting that adjacent blocks were also being cleared.
Sections of a nearby highway were also closed by the firefighting operation.
Deadly fires were once a regular scourge in densely populated Hong Kong, especially in poorer neighbourhoods.
However, safety measures have been ramped up in recent decades and such fires have become much less commonplace.
