Firefighters in Hong Kong have finished fighting the fire that broke out in the Wang Fook residential complex. The fire was completely extinguished at 10:28 AM on Friday (11/28), local time – 11:18 PM in Brazil – after a total of 43 hours of continuous work by authorities.
The death toll rose to 128, according to the latest update. 79 victims have been hospitalized and about 200 people are still missing, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
Fire brigades are still working at the scene to search for missing people. The residential complex, located in the Tai Po district, includes more than 2,000 apartments and is home to about 4,000 people. The fire affected seven of the eight buildings in the complex.
The apartment has been under renovation since July 2024, and is covered with bamboo scaffolding and a green screen. Some of the materials used in the work were highly flammable, which could cause the fire to spread quickly.
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Five people have been arrested for manslaughter so far. The suspects are managers and employees of the contractor responsible for the renovation.
“We have reason to believe that company officials were seriously negligent, leading to this incident and allowing the fire to spread uncontrollably, causing the deaths of many people,” Superintendent Elaine Chung said, according to the South China Morning Post.
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Agents discovered a highly flammable type of Styrofoam covering the elevator windows. Protective screens and tarpaulins were also considered outside safety standards.
The fire started in bamboo scaffolding installed around the apartment complex and spread to the skyscrapers.
The fire in the residential complex became the deadliest in Hong Kong’s history, surpassing the Jarley Building tragedy, which left 41 dead in 1996.
In a social media post, Housing Minister Winnie Ho Wing Yin informed that the government is providing assistance to the affected residents and that it can provide more than 1,400 units – including transitional housing and temporary housing in different neighborhoods of the city – to serve anyone in need.