By Jacob Burg
Authorities on Nov. 27 arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter in relation to Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, which killed at least 44 people and left hundreds missing, as officials continue rescuing residents from the high-rise apartment buildings involved in the inferno.
The fire, which began in the afternoon on Nov. 26 in a housing complex in Tai Po district in the New Territories, continued to burn on Thursday morning local time, as rescue efforts continued.
Authorities evacuated hundreds of residents while the fire engulfed seven of the Wang Fuk Court complex’s eight towers, sending flames and smoke billowing out of windows.
Officials said 40 of the 44 deaths were declared at the scene, with at least 62 left with injuries ranging from burns to respiratory damage.
Some of the materials used on the high-rise buildings’ exterior walls likely did not adhere to fire resistance standards, authorities suspect, as the fire spreadly more quickly than usual.
Highly flammable Styrofoam materials, believed to have been installed by constructors, were found by police outside the windows on every floor close to the lift lobby of the one building that did not catch on fire.
Eileen Chung, a senior superintendent of police, said, “We have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent.”
Police arrested three men, between the ages of 52 and 68, who are the directors and an engineering consultant of the construction firm responsible for the buildings.
The Fire Services Department said the fire blazing at four of the other buildings was “coming under control” by Thursday morning local time.
The fire began on one of the 32-story buildings’ external scaffolding and eventually spread internally before igniting nearby towers, likely assisted by windy weather.
The government will focus on the disaster and pause plans for the Legislative Council’s Dec. 7 elections, John Lee, the city’s chief executive, said. The council serves as the city’s legislature.
While Lee did not say whether the elections would be delayed, he said decisions would arrive “a few days later.”
The high-rise apartment complex, which was built in the 1980s and recently received a major renovation, contained eight buildings with nearly 2,000 apartments and roughly 48,000 residents. Many of its residents are elderly.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
