HONG KONG, Firefighters in Hong Kong battled for a second day on Thursday to suppress a massive fire that tore through a high rise housing complex in Tai Po, leaving at least 94 people dead in one of the city’s worst disasters in modern times.
Thick smoke continued to seep from burned out windows at Wang Fuk Court as rescuers moved from unit to unit with flashlights. The complex, made up of seven affected towers and home to thousands of residents, was reduced to a charred shell after flames swept through the buildings.
Authorities said crews were still working to enter all apartments to ensure no one remained trapped. Deputy fire services director Derek Armstrong Chan said the firefighting phase was nearly finished, but crews were focused on preventing flare ups and beginning full search and rescue operations.
Officials did not say how many people were still missing. Chief Executive John Lee earlier said contact had been lost with 279 residents, but no updated figures were provided during a Thursday briefing.
Video from the scene showed firefighters navigating darkened corridors as pockets of flames continued to burn. The blaze erupted Wednesday afternoon, believed to have started in bamboo scaffolding and construction netting before spreading rapidly across seven of eight towers.
Chan said the fire raced through the structures with exceptional speed, and access was severely hampered by falling debris, intense heat and blocked emergency routes.
More than 70 people were injured, including 11 firefighters. About 900 residents were moved to temporary shelters as emergency teams worked through the night. Pope Leo XIV sent condolences through a telegram to Hong Kong’s bishop, expressing prayers for the victims, survivors and emergency workers.
Some residents waited anxiously for news of loved ones. Lawrence Lee said he remained unsure of his wife’s fate after she became trapped by heavy smoke in a stairwell. Winter and Sandy Chung, who evacuated one of the towers, said they watched sparks fly as they fled and could not sleep from fear for their home.
Police arrested three men, identified as directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company, on suspicion of manslaughter. Senior superintendent Eileen Chung said investigators believed the company’s management had been grossly negligent. Officers later searched the office of Prestige Construction and Engineering Company, which had been handling renovation work on the complex, and seized boxes of documents.
Authorities said early findings suggested construction materials on the buildings’ exterior did not meet fire resistance standards, contributing to the rapid spread of the blaze. Investigators also discovered flammable plastic foam panels attached near elevator lobbies in one tower. Security Secretary Chris Tang said the materials would undergo further examination.
The 1980s era complex includes nearly 2,000 apartments and housed about 4,800 people, many of them elderly. The city’s anti corruption agency announced a probe into possible irregularities related to the renovation project.
Officials said the fire began on external scaffolding on a 32 story tower, then moved across bamboo supports and netting into the building interiors. Windy weather likely accelerated its spread. Although bamboo scaffolding is widely used in Hong Kong construction, authorities said they will push for a transition to metal scaffolding because it offers better fire resistance.
Inspections will also be launched immediately across housing estates undergoing major renovation to ensure scaffolding and construction materials comply with safety rules.
The blaze is the deadliest Hong Kong has seen in decades. In 1996, a fire in a Kowloon commercial building killed 41 people over a 20 hour period.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
