Hong Kong: Firefighters search for missing in tower blocks fire

Firefighters are still searching for hundreds of missing people after a massive fire tore through multiple high-rise residential buildings in Hong Kong.

At least 83 people are now known to have died in the blaze – the city’s deadliest in more than 70 years – at Wang Fuk Court’s complex, which is home to thousands.

The tower blocks had been undergoing extensive renovations – and while the exact cause for the fire is unclear, police say materials on the outside of the buildings may have facilitated its spread.

Three construction firm executives have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and gross negligence, and Hong Kong’s chief executive John Lee has vowed a comprehensive investigation.

The fire, which tore through seven of eight tower blocks in Tai Po district on Wednesday, is now “basically under control”, Lee said.

It started at 14:51 local time (06:51 GMT) on Wednesday, with flames and thick clouds of grey smoke seen billowing from the towers, dominating the city’s skyline.

By 18:22 local time, officials upgraded the fire to a level five – the most serious category.

Firefighter Ho Wai-ho, 37, was among those killed in the blaze. He was found collapsed at the scene about 30 minutes after contact with him was lost.

Eleven other firefighters are also injured, the fire department said.

The fierce heat of the blaze, as well as dangerous debris and the risk posed from collapsing scaffolding, has hampered rescue efforts, but the fire department has so far rescued 55 people.

“Despite the complex conditions at the scene, the firefighters’ rescue efforts will not stop,” Lee told a news conference on Thursday evening.

More than 270 people remain unaccounted for, while 76 people are injured, Hong Kong’s fire service said.

The mood in Hong Kong has shifted from shock to anguish, as questions grow regarding who should be held accountable for the blaze.

Anger has been building on social media, especially after several residents revealed in interviews that they did not hear a fire alarm when the fire broke out.

Kiko Ma, 33, who has an apartment in the housing complex, told the BBC that some of the fire alarms had been turned off during the renovation, as construction workers regularly used fire escapes to enter and exit the buildings.

Reports of their complaints last year over renovation plans have also resurfaced, and are circulating widely online. Residents had taken issue with high renovation fees and questioned whether the materials used complied with fire-safety regulations.

Mesh material and plastic sheets which were found on the outside of the buildings are not believed to be fireproof, while polystyrene was also found on the buildings’ windows.

These materials may have allowed the fire to spread faster, police said.

“We have reason to believe that those in charge at the company were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties,” a police spokesperson said.

Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption has said it will launch a criminal investigation over the renovation works.

Fire safety expert Prof Jiang Liming, from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said he believed the bamboo scaffolding connecting the apartment blocks may have also helped the fire grow.

Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight across Hong Kong – a city known for its high-rise buildings – and is widely used in construction.

Lee said he had arranged inspections of “all housing estates undergoing major repairs” to check the “safety of scaffolding and building materials”.

He added that the government was considering a review of bamboo scaffolding and whether they should be replaced by metal frameworks.

Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s northerly suburban Tai Po district was built in 1983 and consists of eight tower blocks providing 1,984 apartments for around 4,600 residents, according to a 2021 government census.

Nearly 40% of its residents are estimated to be at least 65 years old. Some have lived in the subsidised housing estate since it was built.

China’s President Xi Jinping has expressed sympathy for the victims and urged that every effort be made to put out the fire and minimise the losses, state media reported.

Hong Kong’s deadliest fire on record killed 176 people in 1948 and was caused by a ground-floor explosion at a five-storey warehouse.