Three days of mourning begin after Hong Kong apartment fire

Hong Kong officials observed a moment of silence at the start of a three-day mourning period to remember those killed in the city’s worst fire in nearly 80 years.

At least 128 people are known to have died after fires engulfed several towers on Wednesday. Hundreds of people are still missing.

Eight people have been arrested on suspicion of corruption in ongoing renovation projects in these neighbourhoods.

Three other people were earlier detained on manslaughter charges.

Saturday morning’s ceremony was held outside government headquarters, where city leader John Lee and other Hong Kong officials observed three minutes of silence.

Both the Chinese and Hong Kong flags were flown at half-mast in mourning.

The government has also set up memorial points throughout the city where the public can pay their respects and sign a book of condolence.

Once the fire started, it quickly spread to seven of the eight units in Wang Fook Court. It took more than 2,000 firefighters nearly two days to bring the fire under control.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but authorities said polystyrene and protective netting placed outside the windows helped spread the fire.

The tower is also covered with bamboo scaffolding commonly used in Hong Kong.

Officials confirmed the investigation will take place over the coming weeks and police have collected evidence from the scene.

Anger spread throughout Hong Kong after the fire, with residents reporting broken fire alarms and negligence by the company renovating Wang Fook Court.

The director of an engineering company and a scaffolding subcontractor were among those arrested on Friday in a corruption investigation, the Independent Commission Against Corruption said.

Justin Sun, Secretary for Labor and Welfare of Hong Kong, told reporters that his department had conducted 16 inspections of ongoing works at Wang Fook Court Since July last year.

According to the 2021 government census, Wang Fook Court was built in 1983 and has provided 1,984 apartments for approximately 4,600 residents.