HONG KONG — At least 55 people were killed after a massive fire tore through a high-rise housing complex in Hong Kong, authorities said Thursday, the city’s deadliest blaze in decades. Police in the Chinese territory have arrested three people.
Fifty-one people died at the scene of the blaze, fire officials said, while four others died in hospital. Authorities earlier said 44 people had been killed and 279 others were missing after the fire, which also damaged thousands of people’s homes.
About 900 people are staying at eight temporary shelters after the blaze, which escalated into a No. 5 alarm fire, Hong Kong’s highest level, within hours of starting on Wednesday.
Though the origin of the fire is unclear, investigators are focusing on the bamboo scaffolding and green netting that surrounded towers undergoing renovation at Wang Fuk Court in the northern district of Tai Po. Experts say they appeared to help flames jump from building to building as the blaze built into an inferno that firefighters were still battling more than 24 hours later.
Police searched the offices of Prestige Construction and Engineering Company, the registered contractor hired to carry out the renovations, after earlier arresting two directors and an engineering consultant on suspicion of manslaughter.
John Lee, Hong Kong’s top leader, said officials were investigating whether protective materials on exterior walls met fire-retardant standards, and that legal action would be brought if necessary.
Lee said the government would conduct immediate inspections of all housing estates undergoing major repairs to check the safety of scaffolding and building materials. Officials will also provide those affected by the fire with temporary accommodation, financial assistance and other support, he said.
Security Secretary Chris Tang said authorities would pursue a criminal investigation, citing two “unusual” circumstances.
The first involved the protective nets, waterproof canvas and plastic sheeting on the external walls of the towers.
“Once ignited, the intensity and speed of the fire’s spread were far greater than that of materials meeting safety standards,” Tang said.
He also said glass windows had been sealed with styrofoam boards, “which spread fire very easily when exposed to heat.”
The blaze, which was first reported Wednesday at 2:51 p.m. local time (1:51 a.m. ET), quickly spread to seven of the eight towers at Wang Fuk Court. Police said they received multiple reports of people trapped inside.
According to Hong Kong’s 2021 census, about a third of the residents at Wang Fuk Court are 65 and older. Renovations on the 32-story towers, which were built in 1983 and contain almost 2,000 residential units, began last year.
Among those killed was Ho Wai-ho, a 37-year-old firefighter who was one of the first people to respond. He died in hospital after being found collapsed at the scene of the fire.
Ho had been a member of the Fire Services Department (FSD) for about nine years, director Andy Yeung said.
“I am profoundly grieved at the loss of this dedicated and gallant fireman,” Yeung said in a statement.
Countries around the world sent condolences.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic fire in Tai Po. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all those affected by this devastating fire,” the U.S. consul general in Hong Kong said in a post on Instagram.
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences late Wednesday and urged “all-out efforts” to minimize casualties and losses in Hong Kong, a densely populated city of 7.5 million people.
By Thursday afternoon, officials said, the fire had been extinguished at four of the seven towers, while flames at the other three were under control. Though there was less smoke than earlier, it continued to billow from the buildings, and the air smelled of burned plastic as firefighters sprayed water from multiple aerial ladders.
Hong Kong residents were collecting donations for those affected. Across the street from the estate, volunteers set up a makeshift relief point where people brought bottled water, bread and face masks in bags and carts.
“It’s really amazing — so many people from all walks of life have brought in a lot of stuff voluntarily,” volunteer Fion Ho told NBC News. “There’s even so much that we’ve had to stop accepting more.”
More than 30 bus routes were diverted and some roads in the area remained closed to all traffic, according to the Transport Department, while classes were suspended at multiple schools in Tai Po.
Campaigning has also been suspended ahead of Hong Kong’s Dec. 7 legislative election.
It is the deadliest blaze in Hong Kong since 1948, when 176 people were killed in a warehouse fire.
“Fire safety in Hong Kong is pretty good,” said Huang Xinyan, a combustion scientist and fire safety engineer at PolyU, noting the city’s last major high-rise fire was in 1996, killing 41 people.
But it was unusual for all seven buildings at Wang Fuk Court to burn at the same time, he said.
“For the entire building covered with bamboo scaffolding, I think the risk is too high to be acceptable,” he said.
Huang said the fire this week was likely to lead to changes in Hong Kong’s safety practices, and that climate change should be taken into consideration as it “may also contribute to the increasing fire risk.”
Hong Kong has been under a red fire danger warning since Monday, which means there is an extremely high risk of fire due to recent warm weather conditions.
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