A 37-year-old firefighter is among those to have lost their lives after the huge blaze spread across several high-rise apartment buildings, with three men reported to have been arrested
Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years has now killed at least 44 people, with the huge blaze having taken hold of high-rise tower blocks through the night. Another 279 people have been reported missing, as firefighters continue to pull people from the burning buildings into the morning.
Terrifying images have emerged of the massive blaze which spread across seven high-rise apartment buildings in a housing complex in Tai Po district on Wednesday afternoon (November 26) A 37-year-old firefighter is among those who have died, with at least 44 having lost their lives by Thursday morning. At least 29 others remain in hospital.
Local media outlets have reported that three men have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the fire, according to the Mirror. Authorities said that, due to the unusually rapid spread of the blaze, they will be investigating whether material on the exterior walls of the high-rise buildings met fire resistance standards.
A total of 767 firefighters are tackling the blaze, with approximately 900 residents having been evacuated to temporary shelters as the fire spread across seven of the eight apartment blocks in the Wang Fuk Court housing estate. Fire chiefs at the scene said it was difficult for crews to mount rescue operations due to the extremely high temperatures.
Officials said the fire began on the external scaffolding of one of the 32-storey towers. A column of flames and thick smoke rose as the blaze spread quickly on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been set up around the exterior of the buildings.
Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects, though the government said earlier this year that it would start phasing it out for public projects because of safety concerns.
Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Service operations, said: “Debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings (is) falling down. The temperature inside the buildings concerned is very high. It’s difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations.”
The fire department reported receiving ‘numerous’ calls from residents remaining trapped on Wednesday night. They sent more than 140 fire trucks to the scene and were accompanied by more than 60 ambulances.
Hundreds of pets were also affected by the blaze, it is feared. Zoie Cheng Kam-shan, business development director of the Hong Kong Pet Club, said the organisation had deployed two pet ambulances to the scene to receive animals rescued from the fire and transfer them to nearby veterinary clinics.
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