Tiffany Wertheimer,
Yvette Tanand
Gavin Butler
BBC on the scene of the Hong Kong apartment block blaze
Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in more than 60 years ripped through a high-rise public housing complex in the city’s north-east this week, killing at least 128 people.
Dozens more remain missing, with 79 people confirmed injured and and 89 bodies yet to be identified.
Now, as the last flames are extinguished and the high-rise blocks smoulder against the city’s urban skyline, attention has turned to the cause of the deadly fire, and the factors that allowed it to so rapidly spread.
Many Hong Kongers have described it as a “man-made disaster”.
Authorities have attributed the ferocity of the blaze to Styrofoam placed outside the windows of the apartment blocks – while also noting that fire alarms in all eight housing blocks were found to be not working effectively.
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter connected to the fire, according to local media reports, and an investigation has been launched.
What initially caused the blaze is still unclear, but here is what we do know, so far.
Where and when did the fire start?
The blaze broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a large housing complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, at 14: 51 local time on Wednesday (06: 51 GMT).
Wang Fuk Court consists of eight tower blocks, each 31 storeys high. Seven have been affected by the fire, Tai Po district councillor Mui Siu-fung told BBC Chinese. Built in 1983, the tower blocks were undergoing renovations when the fire broke out.
Tai Po is a residential district in the northern part of Hong Kong, near the city of Shenzhen on the Chinese mainland.
The complex provides 1,984 apartments for some 4,600 residents, according to a 2021 government census.
Nearly 40% of the people who lived in the Wang Fuk Court housing complex are at least 65, or older, according to the latest census.
Some of them have lived in the subsidised public housing estate since it was built.
What caused the fire?
The cause of the fire is unknown, but Hong Kong Security Chief Tang Ping-Keung on Friday attributed its rapid spread to styrofoam placed outside the windows of the apartment blocks.
A preliminary investigation previously found that the blaze had escalated unusually fast, and police had revealed that a mesh material and plastic sheets – both of which are believed to not be fireproof – was found on the outside of the buildings.
Police have arrested three men aged between 52 and 68 on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the deadly blaze. Two of them are directors of a construction firm while the other is an engineering consultant.
A police spokesperson on Thursday said investigators were looking into the alleged actions, or failure to act, of the firm’s top officials.
“We have reason to believe that those in charge at the company were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties,” said the spokesperson.
Authorities on Friday further noted that they had checked the fire alarms in all eight blocks and found that they were not working effectively – confirming prior reports from some residents who sai
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