Hong Kong mourns as rescuers comb ruined buildings for bodies following deadly blaze. Here’s what we know
By Catherine Nicholls, Chris Lau, Jadyn Beverley Sham and Lex Harvey, CNN
Hong Kong (CNN) — A deadly inferno tore through a massive housing complex in Hong Kong earlier this week, killing at least 146 people with many still missing, in the city’s worst disaster in decades.
About 40 people are still thought to be missing. Authorities previously put the missing toll at 150, but revised this number down after some of the missing were found among the dead and hospitalized.
Questions are swirling on how such a fire in a skyscraper-filled city with a usually strong public safety record and construction standards could become so deadly, leaping from building to building.
Many of the more than 4,000 people who lived in the public housing estate in the city’s Tai Po neighborhood were aged 65 and over.
The exact cause of the fire is not yet known, but a criminal investigation has been launched.
The complex was under renovation and encased in bamboo scaffolding and safety netting – a construction technique that’s ubiquitous in Hong Kong and parts of mainland China. Authorities are also investigating whether flammable material, including polystyrene boards blocking windows of multiple apartments, may have contributed to the inferno.
The tragedy has prompted a fresh warning from Beijing about dissent in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region of China, with city authorities urged to crack down on anyone trying to “stir chaos,” and officials referencing pro-democracy protests that broke out in 2019.
Here’s what we know:
How did the blaze start?
Firefighters first received a call about the fire shortly before 3 p.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, according to the Hong Kong Fire Department.
The blaze started at Wang Cheong House, a 32-story residential building and one of eight tower blocks that make up the Wang Fuk Court complex, which was undergoing renovations, according to deputy director of the Hong Kong Fire Services Derek Armstrong Chan.
By the time fire crews were on the scene at the first building, the scaffolding and netting was on fire. Firefighters began tackling that blaze, but it quickly spread from building to building, turning a single tower block fire into multiple simultaneous multi-story infernos.
At least seven of the eight tower blocks within the complex were affected by the blaze, forcing those who were able to escape the flames into temporary accommodation.
But it quickly emerged many residents remained trapped inside their apartments, with firefighters unable to reach them amid searing temperatures inside the buildings as well as falling debris.
Firefighters knew where many people were trapped, Chan said, but the extreme heat prevented rescuers reaching them.
A man was rescued alive from the 16th story of one of the towers in the Wang Fuk Court complex on Thursday, public broadcaster RTHK reported, citing Hong Kong’s fire department.
Evacuations, polystyrene boards
A key question for authorities remains why the other tower blocks were not evacuated more quickly once the fire began to spread from the first building.
Early Thursday morning local time, a police spokesperson said Hong Kong Police arrested three men – two company directors and a consultant – accusing them of “gross negligence.” All three were granted bail on Friday, police said.
The city’s anti-corruption body made 11 arrests on Friday as part of ongoing investigations into possible corruption regarding the renovation of the apartment complex.
Police found the construction company name on inflammable polystyrene boards that firefighters found blocking some windows at the apartment complex. Officials added that they suspect other construction materials found at the apartments – including protective nets, canvas, and plastic covers – failed to meet safety standards.
“These polystyrene boards are extremely inflammable and the fire spread very rapidly,” Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung said.
“Their presence was unusual so we have referred the incident to the police for further enquiries.”
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Security Chris Tang said later the mesh nets did comply with safety standards.
What do we know about the victims?
At least 146 people have so far been confirmed dead, including a 37-year-old firefighter who sustained injuries while trying to tackle the flames, Hong Kong officials said, warning the toll could still rise.
At least seven Indonesians and one Philippine national were among those who died. Their consulates said all eight worked as foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, which is home to 368,000 of these mostly women employees, contracted from low-income Asian countries.
Officials said the firefighter, who they identified as Ho Wai-ho, was rushed to hospital for treatment but succumbed to his injuries.
More than 100 people were injured in the blaze, including at least 11 firefighters, the city’s fire department said Thursday.
Authorities said on Saturday 150 people were thought to be missing, but head of Hong Kong police’s Casualty Enquiry Unit Tsang Shuk-yin at a press conference Sunday revised this figure down to around 40 after some of the missing were found among the dead or hospitalized. She also said some of the missing persons reports were invalid.
Authorities have completed searches at four of the seven apartment buildings which caught fire, head of Hong Kong police’s Disaster Victims Identification Unit Cheng Ka-chun said at Sunday’s news conference. “During the search, bodies were found in the building corridors, flats, staircases, and even on rooftops,” he said.
Speaking alongside Cheng and Tsang, the police’s New Territories North Regional Commander Lam Man-han said it could take between three to four weeks to complete rescue efforts.
Hundreds of residents are now likely homeless in a city where there is already acute shortage of housing and public housing. Many displaced residents and survivors spent a third night in temporary shelters on Friday while those affected are being given emergency funds and other support.
A 65-year-old resident of the estate who gave his surname as Ho stood behind police tape on Thursday morning and watched the smoldering tower blocks as he contemplated his next steps.
A resident of Block 1, in the easternmost corner of the complex, Ho said he fled immediately when a fire alarm sounded and counted himself lucky for the relatively light damage his building faced.
“I don’t doubt many elderly, cats and dogs are still in there,” he told CNN.
Is this common in Hong Kong?
This is likely the deadliest fire in Hong Kong since World War II. Previously, the 1996 Garley building fire, which killed 41 people, was widely described as the worst peacetime fire in Hong Kong history.
Disasters like this are extremely rare in Hong Kong. One of the densest cities in the world, it has a strong track record when it comes to building safety, thanks to its high-quality construction and strict enforcement of building regulations.
Also, bamboo scaffolding is ubiquitous in the city, used not only in the construction of new buildings, but also in the renovation of thousands of historic tenements every year.
But the technique has been facing mounting scrutiny for its safety and durability. While bamboo is celebrated for its flexibility, it is also combustible and prone to deterioration over time.
Hong Kong’s Development Bureau recently announced that 50% of new public building projects erected from March onwards would need to use metal scaffolding to “better protect workers” and align with modern construction standards in “advanced cities.”
That statement drew backlash from residents, many of whom noted that bamboo scaffolding is a cultural heritage that needs to be maintained.
Pressure on Chinese and Hong Kong officials
Such a deadly blaze is likely to pile pressure on both Hong Kong and Chinese officials.
Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous part of China and run by its own local government that answers to leaders in Beijing. But China has also ramped up control over the city in recent years, especially after huge and sometimes violent democracy protests swept the city in 2019. Dissent has been quashed and protests, once a daily feature of life in Hong Kong, have been snuffed out.
On Saturday, Beijing’s national security office in the city warned against a resurgence of dissent, calling for the city’s government to punish those wishing to use the fire as a pretext to “oppose China and stir chaos in Hong Kong.” A pro-Beijing newspaper reported that a high-ranking Hong Kong police superintendent in charge of national security also visited the site of the fire.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping expressed his condolences to the victims of the disaster, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Xi urged “all-out efforts” from representatives of China’s Central Committee and the Hong Kong Liaison Office to do “everything possible” to assist efforts in minimizing casualties and losses from the fire, according to CCTV.
This article has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Chris Lau, Jadyn Beverley Sham and Lex Harvey reported from Hong Kong, Catherine Nicholls reported from London. CNN’s Jerome Taylor, Ivana Kottasová, Karina Tsui, Jessie Yeung, Eve Brennan, Billy Stockwell and Kevin Wang contributed to this reporting.
