Hong Kong Fire: Death Toll Rises To 94 Amid Final Push To...

By Hannah Parry

Live Blog Editor

ShareNewsweek is a Trust Project member

The death toll in the Hong Kong apartment complex fire has risen to 94, with dozens still missing, as firefighters make a final push to find survivors on the third day of the blaze.

Deputy director of the Hong Kong Fire Services, Derek Armstrong Chan, told the Associated Press that crews were prioritizing apartments in the seven high-rise buildings where they had received multiple calls for help during the fire but hadn't been able to reach them immediately.

Why It Matters

The fire is the deadliest to strike the former British colony in more than 70 years. The death toll is more than double that of the 1996 Kowloon fire, which struck a commercial building, killing 41 people. However, the worst fire in Hong Kong's history remains the 1918 Happy Valley Fire, which killed over 600 people, and the 1948 warehouse fire that resulted in 176 deaths.

A special investigation team has now been established to determine the cause of the fire, Chief Executive John Lee said.

What To Know

Hundreds of people have now been evacuated from the Wang Fuk Court apartments, in the Tai Po district, located in a suburban area in the New Territories, with around 900 sent to temporary shelters overnight.

At least 94 have been confirmed dead, with more than 70 people injured, including 11 firefighters. Hong Kong leader John Lee previously said that 279 people were missing early Thursday after authorities lost contact. There have been no updated figures on how many remain missing.

...

...

...

The final search of the buildings will be completed Friday, at which point crews will officially end the rescue phase.

“Our firefighting operation is almost complete,” Chan said.

Chan said that the fire had spread “exceptionally fast” while falling bamboo scaffolding and debris made it difficult for emergency vehicles and firefighters to reach those trapped by the blaze. More than 1,000 firefighters were brought in to tackle the blaze, and even now, the buildings continue to smoke from small flare-ups.

Three men, between the ages of 52 and 68, have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the fire. They included two directors and an engineering consultant from a construction company, which has not been named.

"We have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent,” said Eileen Chung, a senior superintendent of police.

Police on Thursday also searched the office of Prestige Construction & Engineering Company—the firm in charge of renovations for the apartment complex—and seized multiple boxes of documents. AP's calls for comment went unanswered on Thursday.

Authorities suspected some materials used on the exterior walls did not meet fire safety standards, which may have accelerated the spread of the fire. The building, which was undergoing renovations, was also surrounded by bamboo scaffolding. Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency has now launched a corruption probe into the renovation project.

Deadly fire likely to accelerate ending use of iconic bamboo as scaffolding

The housing complex, built in the 1980s, was undergoing a major renovation and was covered in bamboo scaffolding when it caught fire on Wednesday. Officials said the blaze started on the external scaffolding and quickly spread across the bamboo and construction netting to the inside of the building, before spreading to the other buildings. In all, seven of the eight 32-story towers, which include around 2,000 apartments for about 4,800 residents, went up in flames,

City officials have already been planning a shift from the 1000-year-old bamboo construction technique to metal scaffolding in public works. The tragic fire, which has already claimed dozens of lives, is only likely to accelerate that shift.

Eric Chan, the Chief Secretary for Administration, told AP that the traditional bamboo was inferior to metal for fire safety.

“While we know that bamboo scaffolding has a long history in Hong Kong, its flame retardancy is inferior to that of metal scaffolding. For safety reasons, the government believes that a complete switch to metal scaffolding should be implemented in suitable working environments,” he said.

Hong Kong authorities have also launched immediate reviews of other housing estates in the city, undergoing renovation work, to ensure the buildings and scaffolding meet safety protocols.

What People Are Saying

Deputy director Chan said, "We will endeavor to force entry into all the units of the seven blocks concerned so as to ensure that there is no other possible casualties."

Resident Lawrence Lee, waiting in one of the shelters where evacuated residents gathered overnight, told the Associated Press his wife was trapped in their apartment: “When the fire started, I told her on the phone to es cape. But once she left the flat, the corridor and stairs were all filled with smoke and it was all dark, so she had no choice but to go back to the flat.”

A spokesman for Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) told the South China Morning Post: “In view of the immense public interest involved, the ICAC today set up a task force to launch a full investigation into possible corruption in the grand renovation project of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po.”