HONGKONG: The death toll from a massive fire that tore through a high-rise public housing complex in Hong Kong on Friday has risen to 94, as rescue teams continued to battle hazardous conditions in their search for dozens still unaccounted for.
The disaster, one of the deadliest urban fires in the city’s history, has intensified scrutiny over Hong Kong’s public-housing infrastructure, emergency-response capacity, and longstanding concerns about lax construction oversight.
Hong Kong’s chief executive said the blaze — which engulfed seven of the estate’s eight tower blocks — was now “basically under control,” though firefighters continued searching apartments on Friday morning in the hope of finding survivors.
The full number of people inside the complex remains unclear. The housing estate is home to around 4,600 residents, according to the most recent census data.
Anger has intensified among survivors and families of the missing, with some calling the disaster “preventable.” Residents reported malfunctioning alarms, locked escape routes, and construction debris in corridors that obstructed evacuation.
Focus Turns to Building Materials
Police say early investigations show the exterior cladding and materials used on the building were not fireproof, significantly accelerating the spread of the blaze.
Three executives from the construction company responsible for recent renovation work have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, officials confirmed.
Authorities have not yet established the cause of the fire. BBC Verify is analysing early footage that appears to capture the initial moments of the blaze, including flames climbing rapidly up the building façade.
Emergency teams warn the death toll may rise further as more apartments are searched.
Video from the scene showed flames still leaping from at least two of the 32-storey towers sheathed in bamboo scaffolding and green construction mesh, as heavy smoke billowed into the sky.
Police said in addition to the buildings being covered with protective mesh sheets and plastic that may not meet fire standards, they discovered some windows on one unaffected building were sealed with a foam material, installed by a construction company carrying out maintenance work.
Three men from the construction company, two directors and one engineering consultant, had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the fire, she added.
The green construction mesh and bamboo scaffolding used on the buildings are a mainstay of traditional Chinese architecture, but have been subject to a phase-out in Hong Kong since March for safety reasons.
A firefighter was among the 94 killed, with 45 people in hospital in critical condition, Hong Kong police told a press conference on Thursday.
The death toll is now the highest in a Hong Kong fire since 1948, surpassing the 41 killed in a blaze in a commercial building in the Kowloon district in November 1996.
