Death toll in Hong Kong tower block fire rises to 36 with 279 reported missing
Click any word to translate
Original article by Helen Davidson in Taipei and agencies
The death toll from a huge fire that has engulfed several residential tower blocks in Hong Kong has risen to 36, with a further 279 people reported missing, the city’s leader John Lee said in the early hours of Thursday morning.
A taskforce has been set up to investigate the cause of the fire, which broke out on Wednesday afternoon at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po, in the northern New Territories. The complex is made up of eight 31-storey towers containing about 2,000 flats that house about 4,800 people.
Lee said 29 people remained in hospital, seven of whom were in a critical condition, and that the fire was “coming under control”.
Authorities declared the incident a five-alarm fire, the highest emergency rating, and at least 128 fire engines and almost 800 firefighters were dispatched to fight the blaze. Roads including major highways near the towers have been closed.
Shortly after the fire broke out, Derek Armstrong Chan, the deputy director of Hong Kong’s fire services operations, said: “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.”
At least one firefighter named as Ho Wai-ho, 37, was among the dead.
Videos from the scene show flames spread across the towers and visible on every floor, flaring out of windows.
Dozens of shocked residents, many sobbing, watched from nearby pavements as smoke funnelled up from the complex.
“There’s nothing that can be done about the property. We can only hope that everyone, no matter old or young, can return safely,” a Tai Po resident who gave their surname as So told Agence France-Presse near the scene of the fire. “It’s heartbreaking. We’re worried there are people trapped inside.”
A resident who gave their surname as Wong, 71, broke down in tears, saying his wife was trapped inside one of the buildings.
The Wang Fuk Court towers are among the tallest in Tai Po, which, like much of Hong Kong, is among the most densely populated areas in the world. Many residents are elderly, according to 2021 census data reported by CNN.
The Hong Kong government said all departments were coordinating to assist the response effort and affected residents.
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, expressed his condolences for the victims, China’s state broadcaster said late on Wednesday.
Officials were reported as saying the fire had started in some of the external bamboo and mesh scaffolding that encased the towers before spreading inside them, but the exact cause is still not known.
Building standards in Hong Kong are relatively high and vastly improved in recent decades, but the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims expressed deep concern about fires associated with scaffolding, noting similar incidents in April, May and October.
Bamboo scaffolding is a ubiquitous sight across Hong Kong’s construction and renovation sites, though the government has said it was being phased out for safety reasons.
The Tai Po district authorities have opened up shelters in local community halls, at least one of which local media reported was full by Wednesday night, and police have set up a casualty hotline.
Several forums and campaign events related to 7 December elections that had been scheduled for the coming days have been cancelled.
The fire is the most deadly in Hong Kong in years. In November 1996, 41 people died in a commercial building in Kowloon in a level five fire that lasted for around 20 hours.