Hong Kong fire authorities said they expected to wrap up search and rescue operations on Friday after the city's worst fire in nearly 80 years tore through a massive apartment complex, killing at least 128 people, injuring 79 and leaving around 200 still missing.
Firefighters had mostly contained the blaze that destroyed the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in the northern district of Tai Po.
The eight-tower estate housing more than 4,600 people had been undergoing renovations and was wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh when the fire started and quickly spread on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said they had arrested three construction company officials on suspicion of manslaughter for using unsafe materials, including flammable foam boards blocking windows.
Firefighters continued to work at the still-smouldering complex on Friday morning.
"We'll endeavour to effect forcible entry to all the units of the seven buildings, so as to ensure there are no other possible casualties," Deputy Fire Services Director Derek Chan told reporters early on Friday.
As many as 279 people were listed as missing in the early hours of Thursday morning, but that figure has not been updated for more than 24 hours.
Chan said 25 calls for help to the Fire Department remain unresolved, including three in recent hours which would be prioritised.
"Hope they can find more survivors in the building, I think they had tried their best, the firefighters have done a lot," resident Jacky Kwok said. "It is a terrible disaster that no one wanted to happen."
On Thursday, a distraught woman carrying her daughter's graduation photograph searched for her child outside a shelter, one of eight that authorities said were housing 900 residents.
"She and her father are still not out yet," said the 52-year-old, who gave only her surname, Ng, as she sobbed. "They didn’t have water to save our building."
Most of the victims were found in two towers in the complex, while firefighters found survivors in several buildings, Chan said, but gave no further details.
The confirmed death toll rose to 94 early on Friday, the Hospital Authority said. Two of the dead were Indonesian nationals working as domestic helpers, the Indonesian consulate said.
The fire is now Hong Kong's deadliest since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze, and has prompted comparisons to London's Grenfell Tower inferno, which killed 72 people in 2017.
Police arrested two directors and an engineering consultant of Prestige Construction, a firm that had been doing maintenance on Wang Fuk Court for more than a year.
"We have reason to believe that the company’s responsible parties were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties," Police Superintendent Eileen Chung said on Thursday.
Australia has granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian women footballers who sought asylum, fearing persecution after refusing to sing their nati...
Centuries-old palaces and mosques in Isfahan, Iran’s celebrated cultural capital, lie in ruins after a series of air raids struck the city&rs...
Tensions in the region remained high on Tuesday (10 March), as the United States and Iran exchanged increasingly sharp warnings, including thr...
The first batch of Peter Mandelson’s papers on his 2024 ambassadorial appointment is set to be published on Wednesday, following a parliament...
A freight train carrying more than 1,000 tons of Russian grain will depart for Armenia through Azerbaijani terr...
Eight vehicles caught fire on Friday (6 February) outside a wholesale fish market in Hong Kong, sending thick black smoke over parts of the Kowloon peninsula, before firefighters brought the blaze under control, authorities said.
The death toll from Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has risen to 161, after forensic analysis confirmed one more victim among the charred remains at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, more than three weeks after the blaze began, authorities said on Saturday.
Hong Kong Police said that the death toll of people killed in the Wang Fuk apartment fire has risen to 159 while giving an update on their investigation into the incident on Wednesday.
An independent committee is to be established to investigate the cause of the city's deadliest fire in decades, including oversight of renovations blamed for the disaster that has claimed 151 lives.
Tensions in the region remained high on Tuesday (10 March), as the United States and Iran exchanged increasingly sharp warnings, including threats over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global oil supplies.
China has urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their dispute through dialogue after Chinese envoy Yue Xiaoyong met Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, as fighting between the two neighbours entered its eleventh day.
Kazakhstan has evacuated more than 7,300 citizens from the Middle East since regional tensions escalated, using both air and land routes to bring nationals home while closely monitoring political developments and potential economic effects linked to rising oil prices.
Almost 2,000 people have been evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan since conflict erupted in the Middle East.
Norwegian police are searching for a suspect after an explosion at the U.S. embassy in Oslo on 8 March caused minor damage but no injuries, in what authorities say may have been a deliberate attack linked to the Middle East crisis.
The first batch of Peter Mandelson’s papers on his 2024 ambassadorial appointment is set to be published on Wednesday, following a parliamentary order. The release comes amid police investigations over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
At least six people have died after a bus caught fire in Kerzers, Switzerland, in what police say may have been a deliberate act. Witnesses reported a man inside the vehicle set himself alight. Three others were injured and taken to hospital, while authorities continue their investigation.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 11th of March, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Four people have sustained varying degrees of injuries after two drones fell near Dubai's International Airport on Wednesday, as Iran and Israel continue to exchange missile and drone strikes across the Middle East - all the latest updates throughout the day on AnewZ.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, has addressed the U.N. Security Council, saying the world must consider how effective its engagement with the Taliban-run country is as millions face hunger.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment