Firefighters in Hong Kong battled one of the city’s deadliest modern fires for a second day on Thursday, struggling to contain flames that tore through multiple high‑rise towers and left at least 55 people dead.
Among the casualties was a firefighter, while 71 others were injured as the inferno continued to burn through parts of the Wang Fuk Court complex in Tai Po.
The fire, which began Wednesday afternoon, quickly spread across seven of the estate’s eight residential towers.
By Thursday morning, four buildings were under control, but thick black smoke still poured from the upper floors as emergency crews warned that operations could last well into the evening.
Families waited anxiously in temporary shelters, with survivors describing sparks raining down and corridors filled with suffocating smoke.
Arrests and Investigation
Hong Kong police arrested three men—two directors and an engineering consultant from a construction company—on suspicion of manslaughter.
Senior Superintendent Eileen Chung said investigators had “reason to believe” those overseeing renovation works acted with gross negligence.
Officers later searched the office of Prestige Construction & Engineering Company, seizing boxes of documents.
Authorities suspect substandard materials accelerated the spread of the fire. Police discovered Styrofoam, a highly flammable material, affixed to windows near the elevator lobby of an unaffected tower, raising further questions about construction practices.
Officials believe the blaze began on scaffolding outside a 32‑story tower before racing up bamboo scaffolding and construction netting, then leaping between buildings—a spread worsened by strong winds.
The Wang Fuk Court estate, built in the 1980s, houses about 4,800 residents across nearly 2,000 apartments. Around 900 people were evacuated overnight as authorities scrambled to locate hundreds of others.
By midnight, Hong Kong leader John Lee said contact had been lost with 279 residents. He announced immediate inspections of renovation sites across the city to ensure scaffolding and construction materials meet safety standards.
Chinese President Xi Jinping extended condolences to the families of victims and urged authorities to minimize further casualties.
The blaze has now become Hong Kong’s deadliest in decades, surpassing the 1996 Kowloon commercial building fire that killed 41 people in a 20‑hour inferno.
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