(Al Jazeera Media Network) Firefighters in Hong Kong are working for a second day to put out a large blaze at a residential complex that has killed at least 75 people in the Chinese territory’s deadliest and most destructive fire in 60 years.
Officials said on Thursday that flames in four buildings in the Wang Fuk Court housing complex, located in the Tai Po neighbourhood, had been extinguished and fires in the rest of the site were under control.
But rescuers are still racing to reach people feared trapped on the upper floors of the complex. Hong Kong Chief Executive John John Lee said contact had been lost with 279 people early Thursday.
The death toll from the disaster stands at 75, including one firefighter, according to the Hong Kong Fire Services Department. More than 70 people have been injured, according to the Hospital Authority, many suffering from burns and smoke inhalation.
The blaze began midafternoon Wednesday on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting, then spread across seven buildings in the complex.
Authorities suspected some materials on the exterior walls of the high-rise buildings did not meet fire resistance standards and led to the unusually fast spread of the fire.
Police also said they found styrofoam, which is highly flammable, attached to the windows on each floor near the elevator lobby of the one unaffected tower.
Three men from a construction company handling maintenance at the site have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. The men – company directors and an engineering consultant – were suspected of being “grossly negligent”, said Eileen Chung, a senior superintendent of police.
Amid the construction safety concerns, Lee said all housing estates undergoing major improvements will be immediately inspected, and he announced plans to phase out bamboo scaffolding.
According to Construction Industry Council, there are about 2,500 registered bamboo scaffolders in Hong Kong. Bamboo scaffolding-related accidents have claimed 23 lives since 2018.
The housing complex contains nearly 2,000 apartments for about 4,800 residents, including many older people who may have struggled to evacuate quickly.It was built in the 1980s and had been undergoing a major renovation project, which Hong Kong’s anticorruption agency said it will investigate for possible corruption.
Lee said the government would set up a US$38.6-million fund to help residents.
Numerous Chinese companies and groups – including Xiaomi, Xpeng and Geely as well as the charity foundation of Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma – have pledged millions in donations to the fire victims.
