At least 44 people were killed and nearly 300 were missing after Hong Kong's deadliest fire in three decades ripped through high-rise residential towers sheathed in flammable bamboo scaffolding. The fire tore through a cluster of apartment towers in the Tai Po district on Wednesday.
Police arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter, several local news outlets reported, saying the detentions were directly linked to the fire.
he inferno erupted mid-afternoon at the external bamboo scaffolding of a 32-storey tower undergoing renovation and rapidly spread across seven buildings in the eight-tower housing complex. Fuelled by construction netting and strong winds, the flames shot up the structures and leapt to adjoining buildings, sending thick smoke billowing across the suburb in the New Territories.
Hundreds of residents, many of them elderly, were forced to evacuate as debris and burning scaffolding rained down. About 900 people were moved to temporary shelters as firefighters battled the blaze, with more than 140 fire trucks and 60 ambulances deployed.
Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, said early investigations were underway as emergency crews continued to search for missing residents. "Police and the Fire Services Department have already set up a dedicated investigation team to investigate the cause of the fire," he said. Lee added that the blaze was "coming under control" shortly after midnight.
Authorities said at least 45 people remained in hospital, some with serious injuries. Fire commanders said soaring temperatures inside the buildings severely hindered rescue teams. Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Service operations, said, "Debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings (is) falling down. The temperature inside the buildings concerned is very high. It’s difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations."
The fire, upgraded to a level 5 alarm -- Hong Kong’s highest emergency classification -- burned through the evening as thick smoke poured from multiple blocks. Firefighters used ladder trucks to blast water into the upper floors while police and paramedics cordoned off streets crowded with evacuees and worried relatives.
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed condolences for the firefighter killed in the operation and offered sympathies to the victims’ families, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The housing estate consists of eight high-rise blocks built in the 1980s and undergoing a large-scale renovation when the blaze broke out. Officials said the fire began on bamboo scaffolding wrapped around the exterior of the tower and likely spread rapidly because of strong winds funnelling between the closely spaced buildings.
The blaze is the city’s deadliest in decades. The last time Hong Kong saw a fire of similar magnitude was in November 1996, when 41 people died in a level 5 blaze that burned through a commercial building in Kowloon for nearly 20 hours.
