Hong Kong firefighters search for hundreds missing after inferno kills 44, with three arrests made over suspected gross negligence in maintenance work
HONG KONG: Firefighters scoured a still-burning apartment complex for hundreds of missing people on Thursday following the city’s deadliest blaze in decades.
The inferno tore through an eight-building housing estate with 2,000 apartments in Tai Po on Wednesday afternoon, killing at least 44 people.
Flames were still visible in some windows while multiple fire hoses sprayed the scorched exteriors around noon on Thursday.
Crowds gathered in nearby streets to organise aid for displaced residents and firefighters in a spontaneous citywide effort.
“It’s truly touching. The spirit of Hong Kong people is that when one is in trouble, everyone lends support,” said Stone Ngai, 38, an organiser of an impromptu aid station.
Police arrested three men in connection with the fire after flammable materials left during maintenance work caused the blaze “to spread rapidly beyond control”.
Officers suspect the three “acted with gross negligence” by leaving foam packaging at the fire site.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said authorities will immediately inspect all housing estates undergoing major works following the disaster.
Multiple residents of Wang Fuk Court told AFP they did not hear any fire alarm and had to go door-to-door to alert neighbours.
“The fire spread so quickly. I saw one hose trying to save several buildings, and I felt it was far too slow,” said a man surnamed Suen.
Hong Kong’s fire department raised the death toll to 44 on Thursday morning.
Among the dead was a 37-year-old firefighter found with burns on his face half an hour after losing contact with colleagues.
A government spokesman said 61 people were being treated in hospital, with 15 in critical condition and 27 in serious condition.
Lee said 279 people were unaccounted for initially, though firefighters later established contact with some of them.
More than 900 people sought refuge at temporary shelters overnight.
The Indonesian consulate confirmed two of the deceased were Indonesian migrant domestic workers.
“The temperature at the scene is very high and there are some floors where we have been unable to reach people who requested help, but we will keep trying,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of fire service operations.
He said wind and drifting debris likely spread the fire from one building to another.
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed condolences to the victims, including “the firefighter who died in the line of duty”.
Some residents in adjacent blocks evacuated as a precaution were allowed back into their homes on Thursday afternoon.
Volunteers distributed clothes and lunch boxes while others gave out flyers with information about missing people.
Deadly fires were once regular in densely populated Hong Kong but have become much less commonplace with improved safety measures. – AFP