Hong Kong authorities raised the death toll from a devastating high-rise apartment fire to 128 on Friday, with 200 residents still unaccounted for and eight more people arrested as an anti-corruption probe widened into renovation work at the complex.
Rescue operations at the Wang Fuk Court estate in Tai Po ended after firefighters recovered dozens more bodies from the seven charred towers, Security Secretary Chris Tang told reporters. The blaze, which started on Wednesday afternoon, was finally completely extinguished on Friday morning.
“We do not rule out the possibility that more bodies could be discovered when police enter the building for detailed investigations,” Tang said at a news conference, Reuters reported.
Only 39 of the victims have been identified so far, he added, while 79 people — including 12 firefighters — were injured. One firefighter, 37-year-old Ho Wai-ho, died from burns sustained at the scene.
Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption announced it had formed a task force to investigate possible graft tied to the renovation project and arrested eight individuals, including an engineering consultant, a scaffolding subcontractor, and an intermediary. That followed Thursday’s arrests of two directors and another consultant from Prestige Construction, the firm handling maintenance, on suspicion of manslaughter for using highly flammable materials.
Tang said fire alarms in the complex failed to activate properly, and preliminary findings pointed to burning netting on lower floors as the ignition point. Highly flammable styrofoam boards on windows and bamboo scaffolding wrapped in green mesh then fueled the rapid upward spread.
“Although the mesh netting met certain flame-retardant requirements, they could still catch fire when exposed to high temperatures,” Tang said, per NBC News. “Bamboo scaffolding could also catch fire.”
Residents had complained to authorities last year about fire risks from the renovation materials, only to be told the danger was “relatively low,” according to the Labour Department, Reuters reported.
Among the dead and missing are domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia. Mourners left flowers at the site, while volunteers set up aid camps and distributed food and supplies to displaced families.
“This is my home. Look over there, the 10th floor, that’s where my home was,” said one resident, Miss Yu, per Reuters. “I really want to go back home, but my home is probably gone now.”
The fire, the deadliest in Hong Kong since 1948, has drawn comparisons to London’s 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster and intensified scrutiny of safety standards in the city’s densely packed public housing.
