Top updates on deadly Hong Kong fire, 75 confirmed dead, rescue efforts continue

Deadly Hong Kong high-rise blaze

Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades continued to smoulder across several high-rise apartment blocks on Thursday, as emergency crews raced to trace dozens of residents still missing.

At least 75 people were confirmed dead after the blaze erupted on Wednesday at Wang Fuk Court in Taipo, located in the city’s mountainous New Territories. Dozens more suffered injuries, while around 900 residents from the 4,800 people living in the complex were moved into emergency shelters overnight.

The inferno tore through seven of the eight 32-storey residential towers after flames spread rapidly through construction materials and bamboo scaffolding surrounding the buildings. Fire officials said the extreme heat inside the structures continued to hinder rescue operations, slowing efforts to reach trapped residents.

Authorities described the destruction as one of the most catastrophic residential fires in the city’s recent history. The scale of the disaster has surpassed a deadly November 1996 blaze in Kowloon, which claimed 41 lives after burning for nearly 20 hours. Only one fire in modern records has proven deadlier — a warehouse blaze in 1948 that killed 176 people, according to the South China Morning Post.

Here's what to know about the disaster:

Officials are investigating why construction materials, netting and bamboo scaffolding being used in renovations to the outsides of the high-rise buildings at Wang Fuk Court caught fire.

In the meantime, authorities arrested three people, the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company, on suspicion of manslaughter. Police did not name the company, but they searched the office of Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., which The Associated Press confirmed was in charge of the renovations. Phone calls to the company's offices went unanswered.

Officials said they suspect that some materials, such as plastic foam panels being used to protect windows from damage, did not meet fire resistance standards. High winds helped spread the flames.

About a third of Hong Kong residents live in the government's Housing Authority dwellings. Wang Fuk Court is a complex of privately-owned but subsidized housing.

Built in the 1980s, the basic apartments measure 40-45 square meters (430-485 square feet), according to online real estate listings. Like most Hong Kong mass market housing, they appear not to be equipped with smoke detectors or sprinkler systems.

The buildings were constructed before revisions to Hong Kong's fire codes required mandatory fire refuge floors.

Hong Kong's 7.5 million residents mostly live in cramped apartments crammed on scarce flat lands or perched on the slopes of steep mountainsides. Many of those high-rise buildings are crowded closely together.

Firefighters struggled to bring the blazes under control as their ladders and hoses could only reach just over halfway up the 32-story buildings, or about 53 meters (174 feet) — under 20 stories.

High winds and extremely high heat may have prevented use of aerial equipment such as helicopters. The high temperatures also deterred firefighters from entering the buildings to fight the blaze and rescue survivors, said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Hong Kong's Fire Service Operations.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said the government would set up a task force to conduct a full investigation into the disaster. He said the case would be submitted to the Coroner’s Court, which conducts inquiries into the causes and circumstances of certain deaths.

Lee said the government planned to inspect all housing estates undergoing major repairs to review the safety of scaffolding and construction materials. He also promised to provide “all possible support” to those affected by the fire.

The hundreds of survivors who were evacuated or were outside the buildings at the time the fire started were staying in temporary shelters, including a nearby school.

There, workers were distributing bottled water, food and other necessities. Volunteers were bringing supplies like water and snacks.

More than 70 people were injured, the city's Fire Services Department said. The Hospital Authority said earlier that 17 people taken to hospitals were in critical condition.

(With AP inputs)