A deadly inferno has torn through a massive housing complex in Hong Kong, killing at least 44 people with more than 270 others still missing, in what is shaping up to be the city’s worst disaster in decades.
Firefighters were still trying to get parts of the fire under control on Thursday morning – more than 16 hours since the blaze first broke out – with rescue officials saying extremely high temperatures inside the buildings were hampering their ability to reach residents they knew to be trapped.
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.
More than 4,000 people lived in Wang Fuk Court, a public housing estate home to many people aged 65 and older in the city’s Tai Po neighborhood, just miles from the border with mainland China.
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.
As of Thursday morning, first responders are focusing their efforts on three of the seven blocks affected, where at least 279 people are still missing.
How did the blaze start?
Firefighters first received a call about the fire shortly before 3 p.m. local time (2 a.m. ET), 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, Derek Armstrong Chan, the fire department’s deputy director of operations, said.
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.
By the early hours of Thursday morning local time, fires were extinguished in three buildings, with four still showing “scattered traces of fire,” according to the city’s leader, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee.
It is not yet known how many of the 279 missing people were trapped – or simply people still listed as uncontacted in the chaos of evacuating such a huge complex.
Firefighters knew where many people were trapped, Chan said. “However, due to extreme heat inside the specific buildings, we are currently unable to reach upward to those trapped inside. We will keep going and keep trying.”
More than 800 firefighters were deployed to tackle the blaze, with 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances sent to the scene.
Early Thursday morning local time, a police spokesperson said Hong Kong Police arrested the three men, accusing them of “gross negligence.”
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.
CNN