Firefighters battled one of Hong Kong’s deadliest modern blazes for a second day today, fighting to control a fire that blackened several high-rise towers and killed at least 44 people, including a firefighter.
Three men from a construction company this morning were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, and rescue efforts are ongoing.
Thick smoke still poured out of the Wang Fuk Court (宏福苑) complex, which houses thousands, in Tai Po (大埔) district, a northern suburb near the border with the Chinese mainland, this morning.
Photo: Reuters
The fire that started midafternoon yesterday had spread across seven of the complex’s eight buildings, and four of the towers were under control by morning, the city’s fire services said.
About 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters overnight, with another 279 people reported missing last night.
As of 11am, 66 people remained in hospital, with 15 in critical condition and 25 in serious condition, many suffering from burn and inhalation injuries, local media HK01 reported.
Three of the eight buildings in the housing complex are under control, while four were still on fire, Fire services director Andy Yeung (楊恩健) told reporters at a press conference last night.
The fire department dispatched 888 firefighters to the scene, Yeung said.
A firefighter was among those killed, he said earlier yesterday.
He was identified as 37-year-old Ho Wai-ho (何偉豪), who was attached to the Sha Tin Fire Station, local public broadcaster RTHK reported.
Yeung said Ho was fighting the blaze on the ground, and went missing for about half an hour, the report said.
Ho was later found and rushed to Prince Wales Hospital where he was declared dead at 4:41pm, he said.
Nine people were declared dead at the scene and four others who were sent to the hospital were later confirmed dead, authorities told reporters yesterday.
The fire department said it received reports at 2:51pm that a fire had broken out in Wang Fuk Court. By 6:22pm it had been upgraded to a No. 5 alarm, the city's highest.
The Fire Services Department earlier yesterday said it deployed 767 firefighters, 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances to tackle the deadly blaze, local media Hong Kong Free Press reported last night.
Firefighters battled the orange flames into the night as thick black smoke billowed from the 32-storey towers, which were sheathed in bamboo scaffolding — whose use the government began phasing out in March for safety reasons — and green construction mesh.
Fire authorities said they were grappling to get to the towers' upper floors due to the intense heat, and that the blaze was getting tougher after night fell.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.
Authorities suspected some materials on the exterior walls of the high-rise buildings did not meet fire resistance standards, allowing the unusually fast spread of the fire.
“We have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent,” said Eileen Chung (鍾麗詒), a senior superintendent of police, told reporters today.
This morning, three men, the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company, were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
Police also said they found styrofoam — which is highly flammable — attached to the windows on each floor near the elevator lobby of the one unaffected tower.
It was believed to have been installed by the construction company but the purpose was not clear.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang (鄧炳強) said they would investigate the materials further.
At last night’s press conference, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) said the Fire Department and the Police Department have set up a special task force to investigate the fire.
The case is to be sent to the Coroner’s Court, he added.
"The priority is to extinguish the fire and rescue the residents who are trapped. The second is to support the injured. The third is to support and recover. Then, we'll launch a thorough investigation," he said.
He expressed deep condolences to families affected by the blaze.
The government would prioritize the disaster and halt promotion for the Dec. 7 elections for the Legislative Council, the city’s legislature, he added.
He did not say if the elections could be delayed but said decisions would come “a few days later.”
The Wang Fuk Court, where the fire started, has 2,000 residential apartments comprising eight blocks.
The complex has 4,643 residents, more than one-third of whom are over age 65, according to property agent Midland Realty's analysis of government data.
The Fire Services Department yesterday said it did not yet have a figure for the number of people who might still be inside the buildings.
Lo Hiu-fung (羅曉楓), a Taipo District Council member, told local TV station TVB earlier yesterday that most of the residents trapped in the blaze were believed to be elderly people.
The Hong Kong fire service has been advising residents trapped inside the burning buildings to stay inside, close their windows and await rescue.
Hong Kong's Transport Department said that due to the fire, an entire section of the Tai Po road, one of Hong Kong's two main highways, had been closed and buses were being diverted.
At least six schools are to be closed today due to the fire and traffic congestion, the city's Education Bureau said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last night expressed condolences to the victims of the fire in Hong Kong, and the firefighter who died in the line of duty, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Xi also called for all-out efforts to extinguish the fire and minimize casualties and losses.
The Home Affairs Department, District Offices and Social Welfare Department have set up interdepartmental help desks, arranged for residents in need to move to temporary shelters, and provided assistance and mental support to the families of the deceased and injured, the Hong Kong government said.
The Hospital Authority has also activated the emergency mechanism to make every effort to save and care for the injured, it said.
Tai Po is a suburban area in the New Territories, in the northern part of Hong Kong and near the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.
The blaze at Wang Fuk Court is Hong Kong’s worst fire since 41 people died in a blaze in the commercial Garley Building on Nathan Road in the heart of Kowloon in November 1996.
In that fire, 81 people were injured.
The fire was later found to be caused by welding during internal renovations.
A judge-led public inquiry led to sweeping updates of building standards and fire safety regulations in Hong Kong’s high-rise offices, shops and homes.
Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction.
The government moved to start phasing out the city’s use of its bamboo scaffolding in March, citing safety.
It announced that 50 percent of public construction works would be required to use metal frames instead.
Wang Fuk Court is one of many high-rise housing complexes in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
The eight-tower complex was completed in 1983, according to Hong Kong's public housing authority website, and has 1,984 apartments.
Occupied since 1983, the complex is under the government's subsidized home ownership scheme, according to property agency websites.
According to online posts, it has been undergoing renovations for a year at a cost of HK$330 million ($42.43 million), with each unit paying between HK$160,000 and HK$180,000.
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