Firefighters search for missing people in tower fire

Firefighters are still searching for hundreds of missing people after fires broke out in several high-rise residential buildings in Hong Kong.

The fire at the Wang Fook Court building, home to thousands of people, was the city’s worst in more than 70 years, killing at least 75 people.

The tower is undergoing extensive renovations, and while the exact cause of the fire is unknown, police said materials on the building’s exterior may have contributed to its spread.

Three construction company executives have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and gross negligence, and Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee has vowed to launch a full investigation.

The fire, which destroyed seven of eight buildings in Tai Po district on Wednesday, is now “basically under control,” Li said.

The blaze started at 14:51 local time (06:51 GMT) on Wednesday, with flames and thick gray smoke billowing from the towers and dominating the city’s skyline.

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

Firefighter He Weihao, 37, was one of those killed in the fire. About 30 minutes after losing contact with him, he was found collapsed at the scene.

The fire department said 11 other firefighters were also injured.

The fire’s intense heat, dangerous debris and the risk of scaffolding collapse have hampered rescue efforts, but fire services have rescued 55 people so far.

“Despite the complex situation at the scene, the rescue efforts of firefighters will not stop,” Lee said at a press conference Thursday night.

The Hong Kong Fire Department said that more than 270 people were still missing and 76 people were injured.

The mood in Hong Kong has shifted from shock to anguish as questions mount about who was responsible for the fires.

Anger grew on social media, especially after several residents revealed in interviews that they did not hear fire alarms when the fire broke out.

Kiko Ma, 33, who owns an apartment in the complex, told the BBC that some fire alarms had been turned off during renovations because construction workers frequently used fire escapes to enter and exit the building.

Reports of their complaints about the renovation plans last year also resurfaced and were widely circulated online. Residents disputed the high cost of renovations and questioned whether the materials used complied with fire safety regulations.

Mesh material and plastic sheets found on the building’s exterior are not considered fire-resistant, while polystyrene was also found on the building’s windows.

Police said the materials could have caused the fire to spread faster.

A police spokesman said: “We have reason to believe that the person in charge of the company was grossly negligent, which led to the accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, causing heavy casualties.”

Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption said it would launch a criminal investigation into the renovation project.

Professor Jiang Liming, a fire safety expert at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said he believed bamboo scaffolding connecting the apartment buildings may have also contributed to the fire.

Bamboo scaffolding can be seen everywhere in Hong Kong, a city famous for its high-rise buildings, and is widely used in the construction field.

Li said he had arranged to inspect “all residential areas undergoing major renovations” to check “the safety of scaffolding and construction materials.”

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

Built in 1983, Wang Fook Court in Tai Po district, a northern suburb of Hong Kong, consists of eight towers and provides 1,984 apartments for about 4,600 residents, according to the 2021 government census.

It is estimated that nearly 40% of residents are at least 65 years old. Some have lived in affordable housing since it was built.

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed sympathy for the victims and urged all efforts to put out the fires and minimize damage, state media reported.

In 1948, Hong Kong suffered its worst recorded fire, killing 176 people, caused by an explosion on the ground floor of a five-story warehouse.