Hong Kong officials said Monday that their investigation right into a deadly blaze that killed a minimum of 151 has revealed among the netting that covered scaffolding utilized in renovations was lower than fire-safety codes, as a wave of public sympathy and support was met by government moves to stifle criticism.
Wednesday’s blaze, which took until Friday to completely extinguish, began on the lower-level netting covering bamboo scaffolding around one constructing within the high-rise Wang Fuk Court complex. It then swept inside as foam panels placed over windows caught fire and blew out the glass. Winds carried flames from constructing to constructing that each one were covered in scaffolding and netting, until seven of eight were ablaze.
Initial tests of the netting showed it was as much as code, but subsequently investigators collected 20 samples from all areas, including higher floors, and located seven failed safety standards, suggesting contractors skimped to make greater profits, said Eric Chan, Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary.
“They simply desired to earn a living on the expense of individuals’s lives,” he told reporters.
Donations for survivors of the hearth had reached 900 million Hong Kong dollars ($115 million) as of Monday, authorities said, as a gentle stream of individuals placed flowers, cards and other tributes at a makeshift memorial near the burned out block of buildings.
“When something happens, we come out to assist one another, ” said Loretta Loh, after paying her regards at the location. “I even have a heavy heart.”
Some 4,600 people lived within the Wang Fuk Court complex within the suburb of Tai Po.
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Hong Kong police Disaster Victim Identification Unit staff had searched five of the burned buildings but only made partial progress through the remaining two, said Tsang Shuk-yin, head of the police casualty enquiry unit. Teams were assessing the protection of the opposite buildings, including the one which caught fire first and suffered the worst damage.
On Monday they recovered one other eight bodies, including three that firefighters found earlier but couldn’t retrieve. Dozens of individuals remain unaccounted for, but some are likely among the many 39 bodies not yet identified, Tsang said.
“We can have to attend until we get through all seven blocks before we are able to make a final report,” she said.
Private donations and 300 million Hong Kong dollars ($38.5 million) in start-up capital from the federal government shall be used to assist victims rebuild their homes and supply long–term support, local officials said. The federal government has also given survivors money subsidies to assist with expenses, including funerals, and is working to search out them housing.
By Monday, 683 residents had found places in local hotels and hostels, and one other 1,144 moved into transitional housing units. Two emergency shelters remained open for others, authorities said.
Residents had complained for nearly a 12 months concerning the construction netting, Hong Kong’s Labor Department said. It confirmed officials had carried out 16 inspections of the renovation project since July 2024 and had warned contractors multiple times in writing that they’d to satisfy fire safety requirements. The newest inspection was just every week before the hearth.
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption authorities and police have arrested 14 people, including the administrators and an engineering consultant of a construction company, in keeping with Chris Tang, the secretary for security.
People increasingly have been questioning whether government officials also needs to be held responsible.
“Persons are offended and think that the HK (Hong Kong) government needs to be accountable,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a locally-based political scientist and senior research fellow at Paris’s Asia Centre think tank.
However the leeway for dissent is restricted in the previous British colony, which got here under Chinese control in 1997 and has moved to quiet public criticism on national security grounds.
“There are rumors being spread by bad people giving fake news concerning the firefighters not employing the right tactics to fight the hearth, or victims being charged 8,000 Hong Kong dollars an evening to remain in hotels – these are all false,” Tang said.
“We are going to arrest these rumor mongers.”
On Saturday, the Office for Safeguarding National Security blasted what it called “evil schemes” that had ”the ulterior motives of using the disaster to create trouble and disrupt Hong Kong.” It didn’t give specifics.
Also Saturday, a person who helped organize a web based petition calling for presidency accountability was arrested on suspicion of sedition, local media including HK01 and Sing Tao Every day reported. Two others were arrested on Sunday, including a volunteer who offered assist in Tai Po after the hearth broke out, the identical outlets reported.
Cabestan said Hong Kong officials were operating like authorities in mainland China, forestalling protests before they could develop.
Tang wouldn’t give specific details of the three arrests, but said that police “must take motion” against those that attempt to “endanger national security,” saying broadly that some people have been “making the most of the saddening moment … and attempting to incite hatred against the federal government.”
Dissent in the town has been muzzled since lots of of hundreds took to the streets in 2019 against government plans to permit extradition to mainland China. Hong Kong now virtually bans mass protests and bars opposition political figures from running in legislature elections.
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