Authorities Probe Corruption And Negligence In Hong Kong’s Deadliest Fire In Decades

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s The deadliest fire of recent years It raised questions about corruption and negligence in the renovation of the apartment complex where at least 128 people lost their lives.

An intense fire broke out at the Wang Fuk Court complex in the northern suburbs of Hong Kong. Wednesday afternoonFlames engulf seven of the eight towers. The complex had about 4,800 residents, some of whom had raised safety concerns about the renovations a year before the fire.

Police arrested three men from a construction company on suspicion of manslaughter and gross negligence on Wednesday. These men were released on bail but later arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, authorities said in a statement on Saturday night, noting their leadership role in the renovation work. ICAC had also previously arrested seven men and one woman linked to the project.

Police did not identify the company the suspects worked for, but documents posted on the homeowners association website showed Prestige Construction and Engineering Company was responsible for the renovations. Police seized boxes full of documents belonging to the company whose phones went unanswered on Thursday.

Authorities also said they were investigating the materials used, such as netting on the scaffolding and foam panels covering the windows, and their role in the fire.

For almost a year, some residents at the Wang Fuk Court complex had been reporting safety concerns to Hong Kong authorities about scaffolding materials used in the renovation project, particularly the netting covering the scaffolding, according to documents reviewed by the AP.

Hong Kong’s labor department confirmed in a statement on Saturday that it had received such complaints, adding that authorities had carried out 16 inspections of Wang Fuk Court’s renovation project since July 2024 and had repeatedly warned contractors in writing that they needed to ensure they met fire safety requirements. The municipality even conducted an inspection about a week before the fire.

The labor department said it reviewed the nets’ product quality certification and found it to be up to standards, but the safety net was not the previous target of inspections.

Initial investigations showed that the fire started in the scaffolding network on the lower floor of one of the buildings. Chris Tang, the city’s security secretary, said the fire spread quickly when the foam panels caught fire. Police said they were also looking at highly flammable foam panels.

“The flame ignited the foam panels, causing the glass to shatter and the fire to quickly intensify and spread indoors,” Tang said.

The labor ministry said on Saturday that three lawsuits had been filed against the company for violations of safety regulations for working at height in construction, and convictions in two of the cases resulted in fines totaling 30,000 Hong Kong dollars ($3,850). The company was also fined three times in 2023 for separate violations unrelated to the Tai Po project.

Hong Kong Fire Services Director Andy Yeung said first responders also found that some fire alarms at the complex, which houses many elderly people, did not sound when tested. He did not specify how many were not working or whether any of the others were working.

It took firefighters a day to get the blaze under control and it was not fully extinguished until Friday morning, nearly 40 hours after it started.

Teams prioritized the apartments where they received emergency calls. during fire But they were unable to reach him during the hours when the fire was out of control, Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of the Hong Kong Fire Service, told reporters.

While 12 firefighters were among the 79 people injured in the fire, one firefighter died.

Even two days after the fire started, smoke continued to rise from the charred skeletons of the buildings due to the flames flared up from time to time.

Authorities said more bodies may be found, but teams have completed their search for everyone trapped inside.

Authorities said Saturday that 44 more of the 128 bodies recovered remain to be identified. There was no news from approximately 150 people.

Indonesia’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that two Indonesian migrant workers were among the dead. Indonesian Consul General Yul Edison said on Friday that about 11 immigrants from the country who worked as domestic help at the apartment complex were still missing.

Near the fire scene, Sara Yu held the hand of her 2-year-old son, Dominic, as she placed a single white rose in a cluster of flowers, each growing in a small children’s playground.

“I brought the children here because I wanted them to understand that living in this world is something to be valued,” she said, holding back tears.

Bouquets of white roses, lilies and carnations were placed outside a building near the fire scene, where family members came to identify their loved ones from photographs. “Over 128 innocent lives, what did they do wrong?” he asked about a sign placed among the flowers.

The city lowered flags to half-staff in mourning and Chief Executive John Lee observed a three-minute silence at the government headquarters on Saturday with officials dressed all in black.

The fire was the deadliest fire in Hong Kong in decades. In 1996, 41 people died in a fire in a commercial building in Kowloon. According to the South China Morning Post, 176 people died in a warehouse fire in 1948.

Researcher Shihuan Chen in Beijing and writer David Rising in Hong Kong contributed to this report. Wu reported from Bangkok