Hong Kong firefighters made a grim discovery on Friday, uncovering numerous additional bodies during a thorough search of a high-rise complex ravaged by a massive fire that spread across seven buildings. The death toll from one of the deadliest blazes in the city climbed to 128, with several individuals still unaccounted for.
According to Andy Yeung, the director of Hong Kong Fire Services, some fire alarms in the complex, primarily inhabited by elderly residents, failed to activate when tested. The fire swiftly leaped from one building to the next, fueled by bamboo scaffolding covered in netting and foam panels that appeared to have been installed by a construction company.
Authorities took into custody an additional eight individuals, aged between 40 and 63, including scaffolding subcontractors, directors from an engineering consultant company, and project managers overseeing the renovation, as detailed by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Rescue teams focused on apartments that had issued emergency calls during the inferno but remained inaccessible during the uncontrollable blaze, as mentioned by Derek Armstrong Chan, a deputy director of Hong Kong Fire Services. It took approximately 24 hours to bring the fire under control, with full extinguishment achieved by Friday morning.
Smoke continued to emanate from the charred structures two days after the fire initiation, with around 200 individuals still missing, including 89 unidentified bodies. Indonesian migrant workers were among the deceased, while numerous others from Indonesia, employed as domestic helpers within the complex, remained unaccounted for.
The government announced that official flags across the city would be lowered to half-mast in mourning, with a three-minute silence led by John Lee, the city’s leader, scheduled for Saturday. The high-rise complex in Tai Po district, constructed in the 1980s and undergoing extensive renovations, comprised nearly 2,000 apartments and housed approximately 4,800 residents.
The investigation revealed that highly flammable plastic foam panels, likely installed by the construction company, were found on the windows of an unaffected tower, contributing to the rapid spread of the fire. Immediate inspections of housing complexes undergoing renovations were planned to ensure compliance with safety standards.
This tragic incident stands as the deadliest fire in Hong Kong in years, surpassing previous disasters from the past.