Rescue operations at Hong Kong apartment complex ‘almost complete’, as death toll reaches 128 | Hong Kong apartment fires
The death toll from a fire that broke out at a Hong Kong apartment complex on Wednesday rose to 128 and some 200 were missing, officials said, as rescue operations were announced to be over.
Firefighters scoured high-rise buildings Friday morning, trying to find anyone alive after a massive blaze spread through seven of the eight towers in one of the city’s deadliest-ever blazes.
Throughout the morning, more people came to the Kwong Fuk Estate community center adjacent to Wang Fuk Court to identify the bodies recovered from the collapsed buildings. The names of a few of those who lost their lives have yet been made public.
Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of the Hong Kong Fire Service, told reporters that rescue teams were prioritizing apartments that they had received more than two dozen calls for help during the fire but could not reach.
“We will attempt to force entry into all units of the seven buildings to ensure that no further possible deaths occur,” Chan added.
The fire, which started on Wednesday afternoon, quickly spread to the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in the northern district of Tai Po. The eight-tower property, home to more than 4,600 people, was undergoing renovations and was surrounded by bamboo scaffolding and green netting, which is thought to have allowed the fire to spread.
As of Friday morning, the fires were largely under control, but officials said some apartments were still burning and they wanted to prevent the fire from spreading and reigniting other parts of the building.
Most of the dead were found in two of the seven burning towers, and most of the survivors were pulled from the others. The death toll had not been updated since Thursday, when it surpassed 250.
A man identified only as Mr. Lau said his parents were still missing but believed they were not alive. He cried and told reporters that he had no information. “I don’t know anything about the scene,” he said. “I just want to know if my parents are alive or dead. If they’re dead I don’t even want to see the bodies, I just want to know they’re gone so at least I don’t have to keep worrying.”
Another resident, who lives on the 10th floor of one of the towers, told the Guardian his family was OK but their neighbors were missing. “I don’t want to watch TV, I don’t want to look at community groups, I don’t want to read any news on my phone,” he said. “I just want life to go back to normal, but it feels so hard right now.”
Indonesia’s consul general, Yul Edison, arrived Friday afternoon to help identify the deceased.
He told reporters that among those killed so far is at least one Indonesian citizen, most of whom worked as domestic help in such apartments. A spokesman for the NGO Migrant Workers Mission said that of the 119 people known to be living in the building, 11 Indonesian and 19 Filipino domestic workers were still missing.
A crowd-sourced web application compiled reports from people about each building, identifying individual flats in each tower and providing current details of residents.
In a report from block F, where the fire started, it was stated that “a 41-year-old man disappeared at 16.45.” “His last message was that he was trapped in stairwell 25-26.” Another report confirmed the deaths of a 60-year-old man, a 90-year-old woman and a 40-year-old Indian national who lived with them as domestic servants in an 11th-floor flat. Four people were reported dead in an apartment eight floors above them.
Police and corruption officials are investigating the cause of the fire. Three people from a construction company involved in the years-long renovation of the complex were arrested.
Authorities focused on the bamboo scaffolding surrounding the building, as well as the green netting covering it and the highly flammable styrofoam that authorities have since discovered was used in elevator window coverings on every floor.
It has led to calls for stronger fire safety laws in the construction industry.
“There is no law stipulating the use of flame retardant materials,” Lee Kwong-sing, president of the Hong Kong Institute of Safety Practitioners, said, according to state broadcasting service RTHK.
“It’s just stated in the Department of Labour’s code of practice, many people may not follow the requirements because it’s not illegal. But if you turn such rules into a mandatory requirement… then it’s a whole other story.”
