Hong Kong nears end of search and rescue mission as tower fire toll rises to 94

Hong Kong: Hong Kong fire authorities said they expected to wrap up search and rescue operations after the city's worst fire in nearly 80 years tore through a massive apartment complex on Friday, killing at least 94 people and leaving dozens still missing.

Firefighters had mostly contained the blaze that destroyed the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in the northern district of Tai Po. The eight-tower estate housing more than 4,600 people had been undergoing renovations and was wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh when the fire started and quickly spread on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said they had arrested three construction company officials on suspicion of manslaughter for using unsafe materials, including flammable foam boards blocking windows.

Firefighters said they were hoping to wrap up search and rescue operations at the still-smoldering complex on Friday morning.

"We'll endeavour to effect forcible entry to all the units of the seven buildings, so as to ensure there are no other possible casualties," Deputy Fire Services Director Derek Chan told reporters early on Friday.

As many as 279 people were listed as missing in the early hours of Thursday morning, but that figure has not been updated for more than 24 hours. Chan said 25 calls for help to the Fire Department remain unresolved, including three in recent hours which would be prioritised.

"Hope they can find more survivors in the building, I think they had tried their best, the firefighters have done a lot," resident Jacky Kwok said. "It is a terrible disaster that no one wanted to happen." Rescuers had battled intense heat, thick smoke and collapsing scaffolding and debris as they fought to reach residents feared trapped on the upper floors of the complex.

On Thursday, a distraught woman carrying her daughter's graduation photograph searched for her child outside a shelter, one of eight that authorities said are housing 900 residents.

"She and her father are still not out yet," said the 52-year-old, who gave only her surname, Ng, as she sobbed. "They didn’t have water to save our building."

Most of the victims were found in two towers in the complex, while firefighters found survivors in several buildings, Chan said, but gave no further details.

Worst fire since 1948

The confirmed death toll rose to 94 early on Friday, the Hospital Authority said. It is Hong Kong's deadliest fire since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze.

Police arrested two directors and an engineering consultant of Prestige Construction, a firm that had been doing maintenance on the buildings for more than a year.

"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," Police Superintendent Eileen Chung said on Thursday. Prestige did not answer repeated calls for comment.

Police seized bidding documents, a list of employees, 14 computers and three mobile phones in a raid of the company's office, the government added. The city's development bureau has discussed gradually replacing bamboo scaffolding with metal scaffolding as a safety measure. Hong Kong's leader, John Lee, said the government would set up a HK$300 million ($39 million) fund to help residents while some of China's biggest listed companies announced donations.

On the second night after the blaze, dozens of evacuees set up mattresses in a nearby mall, many saying official evacuation centres should be saved for those in greater need.

People - from elderly residents to schoolchildren - wrapped themselves in duvets and huddled in tents outside a McDonald's restaurant and convenience shops as volunteers handed out snacks and toiletries.

Hong Kong, one of the world's most densely populated cities, is scattered with high-rise housing complexes. Its sky-high property prices have long been a trigger for discontent and the tragedy could stoke resentment towards authorities despite efforts to tighten political and national security control.

The leadership of both the Hong Kong government and China's Communist Party moved quickly to show they attached utmost importance to a tragedy seen as a potential test of Beijing's grip on the semi-autonomous region. The fire has prompted comparisons to London's Grenfell Tower inferno, which killed 72 people in 2017. That fire was blamed on firms fitting the exterior with flammable cladding, as well as failings by the government and the construction industry.