HONG KONG: Hong Kong police have arrested three men for manslaughter after a huge fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court housing estate, killing at least 44 people and leaving almost 300 people missing.
Police said on Thursday (Nov 27) that the blaze may have been spread by unsafe scaffolding and foam materials used during maintenance work.
Working through the night, firefighters were struggling to reach residents potentially trapped on the upper floors of the housing complex due to the intense heat and thick smoke from the fire that erupted on Wednesday afternoon.
The complex in the northern Tai Po district has 2,000 apartments in eight blocks.
By early Thursday morning, authorities said they had brought the fire in four blocks under control, with operations continuing in three blocks after more than 15 hours.
Police said in addition to the buildings being covered with protective mesh sheets and plastic that may not meet fire standards, they discovered some windows on one unaffected building were sealed with a foam material, installed by a construction company carrying out maintenance work.
“We have reason to believe that the company’s responsible parties were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties,” Eileen Chung, a Hong Kong police superintendent, said.
Three men from the construction company, two directors and one engineering consultant, had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the fire, she added.
The green construction mesh and bamboo scaffolding used on the buildings are a mainstay of traditional Chinese architecture but have been subject to a phase-out in Hong Kong since March for safety reasons.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/hong-kong-fire-wang-fuk-court-arrests-construction-police-scaffolding-5492681
