The death toll in a Hong Kong housing complex rose to 146 on Monday after more bodies were found in the burned-out buildings.
Residents flocked to pay their respects, lay flowers, say short prayers or leave written messages at the site of one of the deadliest fires in Chinese history.
The complex was home to many elderly people, and seven Indonesians were among the dead. A Filipino maid was also killed and 12 were missing; hundreds of Filipinos took to the streets of downtown Hong Kong to sing religious songs and pray for the dead.
Another 100 people missing
Hong Kong police’s Victim Identification Unit is combing the high-rise buildings, finding bodies in apartments and on rooftops.
Another 100 people are missing and 79 injured, police chief Cheng Ka-chun told reporters. The buildings are structurally sound despite the fire, he added.
So far, his team has searched four of the seven burned buildings in the eight-story, 31-story apartment complex in Tai Po, a suburb near the border between Hong Kong and mainland China, built in the 1980s. The complex has nearly 2,000 apartments with more than 4,600 residents.
Eight buildings in the complex caught fire during renovations; they were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and nylon netting, and the windows were covered with Styrofoam panels. Authorities are investigating whether fire regulations were violated.
Serious safety lapses
Rescuers also found faulty fire alarms, said Andy Jeung, director of the Hong Kong Fire Department.
The government said the fire exposed serious safety lapses in the management of the renovation project.
Beijing’s emergency management ministry has announced an inspection of tall buildings across China to identify and eliminate fire hazards.
Hong Kong officials have ordered the suspension of 28 construction projects being carried out by the same company, Prestige Construction and Engineering Company, for safety checks.
Three people, including the company’s director and an engineering consultant, have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
Authorities have arrested eight more people, including scaffolding contractors, engineering directors and renovation project managers.
Potential unrest
A preliminary investigation shows that the fire started on Wednesday afternoon on scaffolding on the lower floors of a building and quickly spread inside, engulfing polystyrene panels and breaking windows, said Chris Tang, Hong Kong’s security secretary. The fire quickly spread to neighboring buildings, affecting seven of the eight buildings in the subsidized housing complex.
Chinese national security authorities have warned individuals not to use the disaster to “return Hong Kong to the chaos” of 2019, when mass pro-democracy protests provoked Beijing and caused a political crisis, Fena reports.
