Hong Kong mourns victims of blaze that killed 128 and counting

HONG KONG: Hong Kong on Saturday (Nov 29) mourned the 128 people known to have died in a massive fire at a high-rise apartment complex, a toll that is likely to rise with 200 others still unaccounted for days after the disaster.

Authorities have arrested 11 people in connection with the city's worst blaze in nearly 80 years as they investigate possible corruption and the use of unsafe materials during renovations at the Wang Fuk Court complex.

Rescue operations at the site in the district of Tai Po, near the border with mainland China, concluded on Friday, though police say they may find more bodies as they search the burnt-out buildings as part of ongoing investigations.

The fire started on Wednesday afternoon and rapidly engulfed seven of the eight 32-storey blocks at the complex, which were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh and layered with foam insulation for the renovations.

SEARCH FOR BODIES CONTINUES

Authorities have said the fire alarms at the estate, home to more than 4,600 people, had not been working properly.

Hong Kong leader John Lee, other officials and civil servants, all dressed in black, stood in silence for three minutes early on Saturday outside the central government offices, where flags were lowered to half-mast.

"Our most heartfelt thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones and with those that are now living with shock and uncertainty," Britain's King Charles said in a statement about the "appalling tragedy".

At Wang Fuk Court, police officers from the disaster victim identification unit, wearing white overalls, helmets and oxygen masks, entered one of the charred buildings to continue their search for remains.

They climbed over mounds of bamboo scaffolding that had fallen during the disaster and around large puddles of water created after firemen doused the buildings for days to try to lower the temperatures inside.

Families and mourners gathered to lay flowers while some faced the grim task of looking at photographs of the dead taken by rescue workers. Authorities said on Friday that only 39 of the 128 dead had been identified.

Christy Tang, 67, was among those searching for her friend, an outgoing retiree who enjoyed singing and sports.

"We checked the photos of dead bodies trying to identify her but to no avail," she said, as she lay flowers in remembrance.

Domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines were also caught up in the tragedy. Hong Kong has around 368,000 such workers, mostly women from low-income Asian countries who live with their employers, often in cramped spaces.

Indonesia said six of its citizens died in the incident. The Philippines said one of its nationals is critically injured, another is confirmed missing, and 28 are thought to be residents of the area but their whereabouts are unknown.

Hong Kong's Lee has said the government would set up a HK$300 million (US$39 million) fund to help residents while some of China's biggest listed companies have pledged donations.

Hundreds of volunteers have also mobilised to help the victims, sorting and distributing items from diapers to hot food.

They formed teams to collect, transport and distribute goods in round-the-clock shifts and have set up a sprawling support camp for displaced residents beside a shopping mall across from the complex.

DEADLIEST BLAZE SINCE 1948

The fire is Hong Kong's deadliest since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze, and has prompted comparisons to London's Grenfell Tower inferno, which killed 72 people in 2017.

Residents of Wang Fuk Court were told by authorities last year that they faced "relatively low fire risks" after complaining repeatedly about fire hazards posed by ongoing renovation, the city's Labour Department told Reuters.

The residents had raised concerns in September 2024, including about the potential flammability of the protective green mesh contractors had used to cover the bamboo scaffolding, a department spokesperson said.

Hong Kong's anti-graft body said it had arrested eight people on Friday including an engineering consultant, a scaffolding subcontractor and an intermediary.

Earlier, police arrested two directors and an engineering consultant of Prestige Construction, a firm identified by the government as doing maintenance on Wang Fuk Court for more than a year, on suspicion of manslaughter for using unsafe materials, including flammable foam boards blocking windows.

Prestige did not answer repeated calls for comment.

PRESSURE GROUP CALLS FOR CHANGE 

Public anger over the fire has so far been muted, a stark contrast to mass pro-democracy protests of 2019 that prompted Beijing to tighten its grip on the city.

Yet some frustrated volunteers were handing out flyers near the estate on Friday and promoting an online petition demanding proper resettlement for affected residents, an independent probe into possible corruption and a review of the system of oversight for construction projects.

The petition had gained over 8,600 signatures by Saturday afternoon.

As with other major fire incidents like Grenfell, pressure for answers may quickly spread beyond the construction firms to government regulators.

Miles, a volunteer with the Tai Po Fire Concern Group who declined to give his surname given the sensitivity of the matter, said his group's demands were "very basic".

"The government should not oppose them. If it opposes them, it is too sensitive and irresponsible," he said.