Hong Kong Police Arrest Eight People After Fire Leaves at Least 128 Dead

The death toll from Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades has risen to 128, while around 200 people remain missing, authorities reported on Friday, November 28. Meanwhile, the police announced the arrest of eight individuals, including subcontractors for scaffolding and managers overseeing a renovation project at the affected residential skyscraper complex.

Hong Kong's anti-corruption agency announced on Friday, November 28, the arrest of eight people in connection with the fire that ravaged a high-rise apartment complex.

The announcement came as the death toll from the incident reached at least 128, following the worst fire there in nearly 80 years.

The blaze occurred last Wednesday, when flames rapidly spread through the Wang Fuk Court development in the Tai Po district. The fire engulfed all eight skyscrapers, turning the densely populated complex into a hellish scene. After more than 40 hours of burning, the fire was nearly extinguished by 10:18 a.m. local time on Friday, firefighters confirmed, marking the end of their operations.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, including reviewing the bamboo scaffolding and plastic mesh surrounding the complex as part of a major renovation.

In the charred apartment blocks, workers are searching for survivors and extracting bodies in black bags, witnesses reported.

A reporter at the scene observed that some vehicles were unloading bodies at a morgue in nearby Sha Tin, where families are expected to arrive for identification.

200 People Remain Missing

Around 200 people are still unaccounted for after the fire, reported Security Secretary Chris Tang on Friday. This figure includes 89 bodies that have yet to be identified. Authorities indicated that more bodies could be recovered, although teams have already concluded the search for anyone trapped inside.

More than 2,300 firefighters and medical personnel participated in the operation, and 12 firefighters were among the 79 injured, according to Yeung. One firefighter also died, as previously noted by the official.

At a hospital in Sha Tin, a woman with the surname Wong was searching for her sister-in-law and her twin, without success.

"We still haven't found them. So we are going to different hospitals to ask if they have any good news (...) We were already waiting at Prince of Wales Hospital on the first day, but there was no news. We also came here yesterday," the 38-year-old woman told the AFP news agency, in tears.

The last contact with the twins was on the afternoon of last Wednesday, around the time the fire was reported, Wong stated.

"The fire spread to two more blocks in less than 15 minutes (...) It was very fast. It was burning red hot; I shudder just thinking about it," said a 77-year-old witness with the surname Mui.

Read also: Death toll rises to at least 83 after Hong Kong's worst fire in decades

Investigation into Renovation Work on the Building

The anti-corruption agency of Hong Kong announced on Thursday the opening of an investigation into the renovation work at the complex, hours after the police announced the arrest of eight men in connection with the fire. Authorities arrested seven men and one woman on Friday, aged between 40 and 63, including scaffolding subcontractors, directors of an engineering consultancy, and project managers overseeing the renovation, according to a statement from the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Teams prioritized apartments from which emergency calls were received during the fire but could not access during the hours when the fire raged out of control, Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of the Hong Kong Fire Service, informed the press. Firefighters took about 24 hours to control the blaze, which was not completely extinguished until Friday morning.

Residents of the development stated that they did not hear any fire alarms and had to go door to door to alert neighbors of the danger.

Hong Kong authorities will immediately inspect all developments undergoing major works following the disaster, with a particular emphasis on the installation of metal scaffolding.

The Hong Kong government announced a fund of 300 million dollars (38.5 million U.S. dollars) to assist the victims of the fire.

Municipal authorities reported that they had opened nine shelters and organized temporary accommodation and emergency funds for those who lost their homes.

They also suspended activities related to the Hong Kong legislative elections, which were scheduled for December 7.

This is the deadliest fire in Hong Kong since 1948, when an explosion followed by a fire killed at least 135 people.

The number of victims now exceeds that of similar incidents worldwide, including the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017, which killed 72 people, and the apartment block fire in Hanoi in 2023, which killed 56 people.

Deadly fires have been a common plague in densely populated Hong Kong, especially in poorer neighborhoods, but improved safety measures have made them much less common.

Read also: Hong Kong and Bamboo Scaffolding: Tradition vs. Risk?

This article has been adapted from its original version in English.