Firefighters continued battling a massive blaze at a high-rise housing complex in Hong Kong for the second day on Thursday, as the death toll climbed to 83 and nearly 300 people remained unaccounted for, according to The Guradian.Thick smoke and pockets of flame were still visible at the Wang Fuk Court complex in Tai Po, where rescuers moved from flat to flat in dark, charred corridors using flashlights. Hong Kong leader John Lee said earlier that authorities had lost contact with 279 residents, but did not give an updated figure on how many may still be trapped during a Thursday press briefing.
Also read: Miracle rescue – Survivor pulled from gutted Hong Kong building after 24 hrs; toll rises to 65
Seven towers engulfed; 900 evacuated
The blaze began on Wednesday afternoon, believed to have started in bamboo scaffolding and construction netting, before racing up the exterior of a 32-storey block and spreading to seven of the estate’s eight towers, according to AP. By Thursday afternoon, fires in four buildings had been extinguished, while three remained under control.Rescuers were “battling high temperatures and carefully going up floor by floor”, said Wong Ka Wing, deputy director of fire services, adding that they “don’t rule out rescuing more injured people.”One firefighter was among the dead, and 70 people were injured. Around 900 residents were evacuated overnight to temporary shelters.
Residents recount escape attempts
Some residents described chaotic attempts to flee. Lawrence Lee told AP he feared his wife was still inside. “The corridor and stairs were all filled with smoke… so she had no choice but to go back to the flat,” he said.Another resident, Winter Chung, said they saw sparks while escaping the previous afternoon. “I couldn’t sleep the entire night,” the 75-year-old told AP.
Three arrested for manslaughter; corruption probe launched
Police arrested three men – directors and an engineering consultant from a construction firm involved in renovation work – on suspicion of manslaughter, AP reported. Senior superintendent Eileen Chung said investigators had “reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent.”Officers searched the office of Prestige Construction & Engineering Company, seizing boxes of documents. Phones at the company went unanswered, AP noted.Authorities said materials on exterior walls may not have met fire-resistance standards. Police also discovered flammable Styrofoam near elevator lobbies in one tower, believed to have been installed by the company. Security chief Chris Tang said the materials would be examined further.Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency has launched a separate probe into the renovation project, BBC reported. Scaffolding, materials under scrutiny as blaze becomes one of Hong Kong’s worstThe estate, built in the 1980s and home to about 4,600 residents, had been undergoing major renovation. Hong Kong uses bamboo scaffolding widely, though authorities earlier announced plans to phase it out for public projects due to safety concerns.A fire safety expert quoted by AP called the rapid multi-building spread “quite shocking,” noting that regulations are designed to prevent fires from jumping between towers. Materials found on-site may explain the unusual speed, he said.John Lee said the government would consult industry stakeholders on shifting to metal scaffolding and immediately inspect all housing estates under renovation.The blaze is Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, surpassing the 1996 Kowloon fire that killed 41 people.(With inputs from agencies)
