Hong Kong firefighters carried out their final room-by-room sweep of a high-rise apartment complex on Friday, hoping to find any remaining survivors after a massive blaze tore through seven of eight residential towers, killing at least 94 people in one of the city’s worst fire disasters.
Final Rescue Efforts and Priorities
Fire Services Deputy Director Derek Armstrong Chan said crews focused on units linked to more than two dozen emergency calls that could not be reached during the fire.
“Our firefighting operation is almost complete,” Chan told reporters early Friday, adding that teams would force entry into every unit to ensure no one was left behind.
The fire broke out Wednesday afternoon in one of the towers at the Wang Fuk Court complex and quickly spread to neighboring buildings. Bamboo scaffolding wrapped in construction netting ignited and accelerated the blaze, allowing flames to jump across structures in minutes.
More than 1,000 firefighters battled the five-alarm fire for nearly 24 hours. Even two days later, smoke still rose from the charred remains of the towers as small flare-ups continued.
Search for the Missing
Officials said the final search would conclude by Friday evening, officially ending the rescue phase at the Tai Po complex near the mainland Chinese border.
With almost 2,000 apartments and roughly 4,800 residents, authorities still do not know how many people may be unaccounted for. Chief Executive John Lee said 279 residents had not yet been reached as of early Thursday.
Chan added that updated figures on missing residents could only be confirmed once the full search was completed. Units tied to the 25 unanswered emergency calls were mostly in the upper floors, where the fire burned the longest.
More than 70 people were injured, including 11 firefighters, and around 900 residents were moved to temporary shelters.
Renovation Issues and Arrests
The complex, home to many elderly residents, was built in the 1980s and was undergoing major renovation work at the time of the fire.
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency launched an investigation Thursday into possible misconduct linked to the refurbishment project.
Police arrested three men—two company directors and an engineering consultant—on suspicion of manslaughter, citing gross negligence.
While authorities did not name the company, The Associated Press confirmed that Prestige Construction & Engineering Company oversaw renovation works.
Investigators found signs that non-compliant exterior materials may have fueled the fire’s rapid spread. Highly flammable plastic foam panels were discovered on windows near elevator lobbies in one of the towers.
Boxes of company documents were seized, and calls to the company went unanswered.
Immediate Safety Checks Ordered
Authorities announced urgent inspections of all housing estates currently undergoing major renovation, with a focus on scaffolding, construction materials, and fire-safety compliance.
This blaze is Hong Kong’s deadliest in decades. Before this, the city’s worst modern fire occurred in 1996 when a commercial building in Kowloon caught fire, killing 41 people.