Corruption, negligence probe into HK deadly fire
The deadliest fire in Hong Kong in decades has raised questions about corruption and negligence in the renovation of the apartment complex that killed at least 128 people.
An intense fire broke out at the Wang Fuk Court complex in Hong Kong’s northern suburbs on Wednesday afternoon, engulfing seven of the eight towers in flames.
The complex was home to about 4,800 residents, some of whom raised safety concerns about 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.
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.
Authorities said more bodies may be found, but teams have completed their search for everyone trapped inside.
Authorities said 44 more of the 128 bodies recovered Saturday still need to be identified. There was no news from approximately 150 people.
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.
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