Hong Kong Fire: At Least 128 Dead, Dozens Missing

Hong Kong is engulfed in sorrow as tributes and vigils begin following a devastating fire at a residential complex that resulted in at least 128 fatalities and many missing. On Saturday morning, AFP witnessed people mourning the victims by laying flowers near the affected complex. A note left at the site read, "May your spirits in heaven always keep joy alive."

City Chief Executive John Lee, along with ministers and several top officials, observed three minutes of silence at 08:00 AM (GMT) in front of government headquarters, where flags were flown at half-mast.

Two days after the blaze, which ravaged a high-rise residential complex in Hong Kong, families of the missing continued to scour hospitals, hoping that their loved ones were not among the casualties. The firefighting efforts concluded on Friday morning after 10:00 AM (GMT) in the eight 31-story buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex. However, the death toll may still rise.

Territorial Security Chief Chris Tang reported a total of 128 deaths, with 89 still unidentified, over a hundred people missing, and 79 injured. "We do not rule out the possibility that the police may find additional charred bodies when they enter the buildings to gather evidence," he stated at a press conference.

This fire is already marked as the deadliest building fire worldwide since 1980, excluding those occurring in nightclubs, prisons, or shopping centers, according to research from the University of Louvain (Belgium). The initial causes of what is also the most severe fire in Hong Kong since 1948 remain unknown. An investigation is underway and could take three to four weeks, according to Mr. Tang.

The tragedy has led to countless harrowing accounts of suffering endured in the inferno and during the identification of victims. "We came every day," said a man named Fung, who was searching for his 80-year-old mother-in-law. "She takes antibiotics... so she sleeps all the time. There was no fire alarm, so she might not have realized there was a fire," he continued.

A 77-year-old witness, nicknamed Mui, described how one building caught fire, with flames spreading to two other buildings in less than 15 minutes, stating, "It was glowing; it sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it!"

Jan Yeung, 46, saw a photo of her elderly mother on a stretcher in a news report but could not locate her after calling all the hospitals. "We can't find her. No one has reported anything to us," she said, explaining that her sister is also missing.

Workers were seen removing bodies in black body bags, as an AFP journalist reported on Friday. In the Sha Tin district, dozens of remains were unloaded before grieving families arrived in specially chartered buses. On Friday, dozens of individuals remained hospitalized, with 11 in critical condition and 21 classified as in serious condition.

A Hong Kong commission announced the arrest of eight individuals for alleged corruption related to the renovation market of the approximately 2,000 housing units opened in 1983 in the Tai Po district, in northern Hong Kong. Among those arrested were seven men and one woman, ranging in age from 40 to 63, including two officials from the renovation office, two foremen, three scaffolding subcontractors, and one intermediary.

The police had previously arrested three men suspected of "gross negligence" after flammable materials were found abandoned during work, which allowed the fire to "spread rapidly." Mr. Tang confirmed that preliminary findings indicated the fire's spread was facilitated by the common use of bamboo for scaffolding and flammable materials like foam panels protecting the windows.

Andy Yeung, the chief fire officer of Hong Kong, confirmed failures in safety devices. Firefighters dispatched a team of specialists after numerous reports indicated that alarms had not sounded. "We found that the alarm systems in all eight buildings were not functioning properly," he said, corroborating the accounts of many witnesses interviewed by AFP.

The tragedy has shocked the special administrative region of China and highlighted its vulnerability. Hong Kong, which has a population of 7.5 million, has an average density of over 7,100 residents per square kilometer, a figure that can be up to three times higher in the most urbanized areas.