Deadly Hong Kong tower fire kills 94, rescue, arrest and safety probes underway

Firefighters battled for a second day to extinguish a blaze at a highrise apartment complex in Hong Kong on Thursday as the death toll rose to 94 in one of the deadliest blazes in the citys modern historyRescuers holding flashlights were going from apartment to apartment at the charred towers as thick smoke poured out from some windows at the Wang Fuk Court complex a dense cluster of buildings housing thousands of people in Tai Po district a northern suburb near Hong Kongs border with the mainlandOfficials said firefighters were still working on a handful of apartments and trying to enter all of the units in the seven towers to ensure there were no further casualtiesOur firefighting operation is almost complete said Derek Armstrong Chan deputy director of Fire Services Operations Firefighters were working hard to prevent the debris and embers from flaring up Whats next is the search and rescue operationhe addedIt was unclear how many people remained missing or trapped Hong Kong leader John Lee said contact had been lost with 279 people early ThursdayAuthorities did not provide updates on the missing people or how many were still inside the ravaged buildings Thursday during a press conferenceVideo showed rescuers searching in some apartments in the dark Orange flames were still seen from inside several windows though the whole complex was now largely a blackened ruinFirefighters have been trying to control the flames since midafternoon Wednesday when the fire was believed to have started in bamboo scaffolding and construction netting and then spread across seven of the complexs eight buildingsChan said the blaze spread iquestexceptionally fastiquest across the towers and emergency workers struggled to gain access insideDebris and scaffolding were falling from upper floors he told reporters There are also other reasons like high temperature darkness and emergency vehicle access was blocked by fallen scaffolding and debris making our access to the building very difficultMore than 70 people were injured including 11 firefighters as well as the 94 killed the Fire Services Department saidAbout 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters overnightPope Leo XIV sent a telegram to Hong Kongs bishop Thursday saying he was saddened by the fire and offering prayers for the injured their families and emergency workersResident Lawrence Lee was waiting for news about his wife who he believed was still trapped in their apartmentWhen the fire started I told her on the phone to escape But once she left the flat the corridor and stairs were all filled with smoke and it was all dark so she had no choice but to go back to the flatiquest he said as he waited in one of the shelters overnightWinter and Sandy Chung who lived in one of the towers said they saw sparks fly around as they evacuated Wednesday afternoon Although they were safe they were worried about their home I couldnt sleep the entire night Winter Chung 75 told The Associated Press on ThursdayThree arrested on suspicion of manslaughterThree men the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company were arrested on suspicion of manslaughterPolice have not directly named the company where they workWe have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent said Eileen Chung a senior superintendent of policePolice on Thursday also searched the office of Prestige Construction amp Engineering Company which the AP confirmed was in charge of renovations in the tower complexPolice seized boxes of documents as evidence according to local media Phones for Prestige rang unansweredAuthorities suspected some materials on the exterior walls of the highrise buildings did not meet fire resistance standards allowing the unusually fast spread of the firePolice also said they found plastic foam panels which are highly flammable attached to the windows on each floor near the elevator lobby of the one unaffected towerIt was believed to have been installed by the construction company but the purpose was not clear Secretary for Security Chris Tang said they would investigate the materials furtherBuildings were covered in scaffoldingThe housing complex consisted of eight buildings with almost 2000 apartments for about 4800 residents including many older peopleIt was built in the 1980s and had been undergoing a major renovation Hong Kongs anticorruption agency said on Thursday it was launching a probe into possible corruption relating to the renovation projectOfficials said the fire started on the external scaffolding of a 32story tower then spread on the bamboo scaffolding and construction netting to the inside of the building and then to the other buildings likely aided by windy conditionsBamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects though Lee said officials will meet with industry representatives to discuss a switch to metal scaffolding amid safety concernsWhile we know that bamboo scaffolding has a long history in Hong Kong its flame retardancy is inferior to that of metal scaffolding For safety reasons the government believes that a complete switch to metal scaffolding should be implemented in suitable working environments said Eric Chan the Chief Secretary for AdministrationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever