Image source, Reuters
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- author, Hafsa Khalil and Kathryn Armstrong
- Author title, BBC News
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A massive fire that destroyed several residential skyscrapers in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district left at least 83 people dead and hundreds missing.
More than 700 firefighters were deployed to fight the fire that broke out on Wednesday afternoon. The images showed flames and thick clouds of gray smoke rising from the towers that dominate the city’s skyline.
According to preliminary information, some residents were trapped in the building, and police said that more than 250 people were still missing.
The cause of the fire was not known, which spread quickly through the bamboo scaffolding that covered the outside of the buildings that were being renovated.
The fire broke out at the Wang Fook Court residential complex at 2:51 p.m. local time (06:51 GMT) and the local fire department classified it as level five, the most dangerous.
Image source, Getty Images
Among the dead was firefighter Ho Wai Ho, 37. He was found unconscious at the scene about 30 minutes after contact was lost.
The intense heat of the fire, as well as the dangerous debris, made rescue efforts difficult.
“The temperature inside the damaged buildings is very high, making it difficult for us to enter… and climb stairs to carry out firefighting and rescue operations,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of the fire brigade.
As the fire continued to burn throughout the night, the officer said they did not know when the fire would be completely extinguished.
The police arrested two directors and a consultant for a real estate company on charges of “gross negligence.” The complex was undergoing major renovations when the fire broke out.
Police claimed to have found polystyrene panels blocking the windows of a building, and it is suspected that these panels, along with low-quality construction materials, may have led to the rapid spread of the fire.
Image source, Environmental Protection Agency
Built in 1983, Wang Fook Court consists of eight apartment blocks with 1,984 apartments for about 4,600 residents, according to the 2021 government census. Seven blocks were affected by the fire.
It is unclear how many people were in the apartments at the time of the fire and how many people may have been trapped inside the building, but most are believed to have been evacuated.
Image source, Getty Images
Some residents told local media that fire alarms did not go off, and that when the elevators stopped working, they had difficulty getting out. A local council member said that many of the people living in Wang Fook Court are elderly.
Reports also emerged of explosions inside buildings, and difficulty for fire hoses to reach the upper floors of the 31-storey towers.
Police also evacuated nearby buildings and opened several temporary shelters.
Image source, Getty Images
The authorities declared a large evacuation zone around the fire, while roads were closed and more than 30 bus routes were diverted, according to the Hong Kong Ministry of Transport.
The fire is expected to have a profound impact on the community and the residential complex itself.
The use of bamboo scaffolding is common in Hong Kong, which is assembled by attaching poles with nylon straps. It is light and strong, and has been used as a construction tool for centuries, but Hong Kong is one of the last cities in the world to continue to use it in modern construction.
Image source, Reuters
As local media reported in March, the government development office is trying to phase out their use in favor of metal scaffolding due to safety concerns.
It has been 17 years since Hong Kong faced a Level 5 fire, when a building built in 1962 also caught fire. Four people died in that incident.
Additional reporting by Tiffany Wertheimer.
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