A deadly fire at a Hong Kong residential complex has so far left at least 55 dead and 72 injured, with dozens more still trapped in the burned buildings as of Thursday morning. Three suspects have been arrested in relation to the catastrophe.
The fire broke around 02:52 p.m. on Wednesday (local time) at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po, as Breitbart News reported.
While the cause of the fire is not publicly known at press time, preliminary police reports indicate that the fires rapidly spread due to the use of highly flammable styrofoam material and bamboo scaffolding being used in renovation works, which allowed the fires to uncontrollably spread across seven of the densely-packed eight building apartment complex that houses some 2,000 apartments in total.
It is reportedly estimated that some 4,800 individuals reside in the apartment complex, including many elderly. At press time, fires at four of the seven burning buildings have been reportedly put out, while fires at the remaining three were brought under control.
“We bought in this building more than 20 years ago. All of our belongings were in this building, and now that it has all burned like this, what’s left? A 51-year-old only identified by the surname Wan told Reuters. “There’s nothing left. What are we supposed to do?”
The South China Morning Post detailed that one firefighter is among the 55 known deaths. The outlet identified the firefighter as 37 year-old Ho Wai Ho.
At press time, it is reported that 62 people are still trapped in the buildings.
John Lee, chief executive of Hong Kong’s Beijing-controlled government, told reporters on early Thursday morning that 279 individuals were unaccounted for, with firefighters later informing that they were able to establish contact with “some” of the missing people. More than 900 inhabitants of the complex have sought refuge at temporary shelters.
Hong Police arrested three executives from the construction company that was performing the renovation works at the apartment complex, who have been charged with manslaughter. Police officers are blaming the fire on the company’s “gross negligence.”
Officers reportedly discovered highly flammable styrofoam cloaking lift windows on every floor of the building, and informed that mesh netting and sheeting used outside the buildings did not meet fire safety standards.
“We have reason to believe that the company’s responsible parties were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties,” police superintendent Eileen Chung reportedly said on Thursday morning.
According to the Associated Press, the firefighting operations could last until the evening hours of Thursday (local time).
