HONG Kong’s worst fire in seven decades has now left 55 people dead as the death toll continues to climb.
As morning dawned on Thursday, exhausted firefighters were still picking through the wreckage of seven burned-out residential blocks and searching for the hundreds still unaccounted for.
Authorities say at least 55 people – including a firefighter – are dead, with 51 found at the scene and four later dying in hospital.
Another 68 are injured, 16 in critical condition and 25 listed as serious.
Nearly 280 people remain missing as full-scale rescue work continues inside the charred towers of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po district.
The blaze ripped through the public-housing estate on Wednesday afternoon, fanned by strong winds and fueled by what investigators now describe as highly flammable and non-compliant renovation materials.
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Police have since arrested three people on suspicion of manslaughter.
Officers said the suspects arrested on Thursday morning are two construction company directors and an engineering consultant aged between 52 and 68.
Investigators believe renovation work at Wang Fuk Court allowed the fire to race up the buildings’ exterior.
Superintendent Eileen Chung said: “We have reason to believe that the company’s responsible parties were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties.”
Officials say the scaffolding mesh and plastic sheeting wrapped around the 31-storey blocks, along with Styrofoam used to seal lift windows on every floor, helped the flames race upward and across the estate in minutes.
The materials have been under a government phase-out since March.
The fire was pushed to No. 5 alarm, which is the highest severity in Hong Kong.
Huge plumes of smoke rose from the towers on Wednesday as burning sections of green construction mesh spiralled to the ground.
By Thursday morning, flames in four of the seven affected buildings were extinguished.
Fires in the remaining three had been brought under control, but conditions remained punishing.
Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Service operations, said: “Debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings [is] falling down.
“The temperature inside the buildings concerned is very high. It’s difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations.”
More than 800 firefighters, 128 fire engines, and 400 police officers have been deployed.
Search teams began clearing lower floods at dawn and expect to push upward by dusk.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu visited the injured early Thursday and said he was “saddened by their deaths,” offering “deep condolences to the families of the deceased and those who were injured.”
He ordered citywide inspections of all public-housing estates undergoing renovations and confirmed a criminal investigation is underway.
Election campaigning has been suspended ahead of the December 7 Legislative Council poll, which Lee said he will “review” if postponement becomes necessary.
TOWERING INFERNO
The inferno broke out at 2.51pm Wednesday, first erupting along bamboo scaffolding on three blocks before leaping to four more.
Built in 1983, the eight-tower estate was home to about 4,000 residents.
It had been shrouded in scaffolding and green mesh since renovations began in July last year.
Hong Kong has also been under a red fire warning all week.
Residents say alarms never sounded, with many leaving with seconds to spare, while others waited for news of loved ones.
A man surnamed Fung said he still had no idea where his 80-year-old mother-in-law was.
He said: “I don’t know whether she is still trapped inside, or which hospital she was sent to.”
Harry Cheung, 66, said he heard “a very loud noise at around 2:45pm” before flames tore across the building.
“I immediately went back to pack up my things,” he said.
“I don’t even know how I feel right now. I’m just thinking about where I’m going to sleep tonight because I probably won’t be able to go back home.”
A 71-year-old man, surname Wong, stood crying outside the towers as his wife remained trapped inside.
Another resident, 83-year-old Chan Kwong-tak, said: “If someone was sleeping then, they were done.”
President Xi Jinping expressed condolences Wednesday night and called for “all-out efforts” to reduce casualties.
Police say 341 requests for help have been received so far.
A woman, an elderly man and pets were among those evacuated as flames retreated to upper floors.
Hundreds have since been moved to temporary shelters.
Footage from the scene showed columns of fire racing up the bamboo frames – the kind Hong Kong began phasing out in March – and towering jets of water arcing into the buildings as chunks of burning debris crashed onto the street.
Officials say investigators are now combing through the materials used during the estate’s renovation, including the non-compliant nets, film and Styrofoam found on every floor of one block that was not touched by flames.
They have also begun searching the management firm’s premises.
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The death toll now surpasses the 1996 Garley Building fire, which killed 41 people, and marks the city’s deadliest blaze in decades.
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