HONG KONG.- The already considered worst fire in Hong Kong for many yearsin seven buildings of a residential complex, yields for now 44 dead, more than 80 injured and at least 279 people missing.
These figures are those released until the early hours of Thursday, November 27 by the emergency services, but it is feared that they will continue to increase.
Fire in Tai Po complex
The incident, which began on Wednesday afternoon, has devastated seven of the eight 31-story blocks that make up the complex Wang Fuk Court of Tai Po district and has become the worst of its kind in Hong Kong in the last three decades.
The fire started in one of the eight blocks and spread extremely quicklypowered by bamboo scaffolding covered with safety mesh, waterproof tarps and expanding polystyrene sheets used in exterior rehabilitation works.
In just 43 minutes the Fire Department raised the alarm from level 1 to 4 and four hours later it reached the maximum level 5, the highest on the local scale, a level only activated on two previous occasions in the recent history of Hong Kong.
Fight against tragic fire in Hong Kong
Until now Fires have been controlled in four of the seven buildingswhere almost 900 troops are deployed, advancing floor by floor, supported by four aerial platforms and 26 specialized teams.
According to Hong Kong Fire Director Andy Yeung, the polystyrene used to seal windows and scaffolding tarps acted as an accelerant. spreading the flames vertically and horizontally through hallways and facades.
Until midnight on Wednesday they had been 81 people transferred to hospitalsof which 45 remain in serious or critical condition.
The Hospital Authority of the former colony has activated the major emergency protocol in nine centres, with special reinforcement in the burn units of three hospitals: Prince of Wales, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole and North District.
Three arrested over Hong Kong fire
In the early hours of Thursday, agents from the Northern Region of New Territories arrested them on charges of reckless homicide three people related to the contracting company Prestige Construction & Engineering Co Limited: two directors and an engineering consultant, arrested in Ngau Tau Kok, Tai Po and San Po Kong respectively.
Senior Superintendent Eileen Chung said: “The police have reason to believe that those responsible committed gross negligence “which facilitated the rapid spread of the fire and caused numerous fatalities.”
The Chief Executive, John Lee, appeared at the Prince of Wales Hospital early in the morning after visiting the community center set up for those affected.
Legislative elections suspended
He announced the immediate stoppage of the entire campaign public of the elections to the Legislative Council scheduled for December 7.
“An election is important, but now the most important thing is to control the fire and support the victims,” he declared.
Hours earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a statement broadcast by state broadcaster CCTV in which he expressed his condolences and ordered “all-out efforts” to minimize human losses and materials.
The authorities will collect samples of the scaffolding materials to verify their compliance with fireproof regulations and promise Immediate inspections on nets and tarps of similar works throughout the region.