“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.”
Resident Lawrence Lee was waiting for news about his wife, who he believed was still trapped in their apartment.
A firefighter searches through a building.Credit: AP
“When the fire started, I told her on the phone to escape. But once she left the flat, the corridor and stairs were all filled with smoke and it was all dark, so she had no choice but to go back to the flat,” he said, as he waited in one of the shelters overnight.
Retiree Lau Yu Hung, 78, told The New York Times that he just happened to look out a window and saw flames were already rising up the building next door.
He and his wife barely escaped their 19th-floor apartment in time. “Nobody warned us,” he said. “No alarm went off. We escaped by ourselves.”
Firefighters have been trying to control the flames since midafternoon Wednesday, when the fire was believed to have started in bamboo scaffolding and construction netting and then spread across seven of the complex’s eight buildings. Fires in four buildings had been effectively put out, with the remaining three towers under control, authorities said Thursday afternoon.
Firefighting efforts continued into a second day.Credit: AP
Hong Kong police on Thursday arrested the bosses of a construction company on suspicion of manslaughter over the city’s worst fire in nearly 80 years.
Police arrested two directors and an engineering consultant of Prestige Construction, a firm contracted to perform maintenance on the buildings. Police said those arrested were suspected of manslaughter for using unsafe materials.
“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.
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 confirmed death toll rose to 83 as of midnight in Hong Kong on Thursday, the South China Morning Post reported, citing the fire department. That made it Hong Kong’s deadliest fire since 1948, when 176 people were killed in a warehouse blaze.
More than 70 people were injured, including 11 firefighters, the Fire Services Department said.
It is unclear how many people are still unaccounted. The government said in the very early hours on Thursday that 279 people were listed as missing, but that figure has not been updated for 24 hours.
Volunteers provide clothing and supplies for surviving residents in the aftermath of the deadly fire. Credit: AP
Residents seeks shelter in a nearby shopping mall in the aftermath of the fire.Credit: AP
In a telegram to Hong Kong’s bishop, Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-Yan, Pope Leo sent “spiritual solidarity to all those suffering from the effects of this calamity, especially the injured and the families who grieve”.
Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, said the government would set up a HK$300 million ($39 million) fund to help residents while companies including automakers Xiaomi, Xpeng and Geely as well as the charity foundation of Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma and Tencent announced donations.
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On the second night after the blaze, dozens of evacuees set up mattresses in a nearby mall, with many saying official evacuation centres should be saved for those with 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 a steady stream of volunteers handed out snacks and toiletries.
The eight blocks of the tightly packed complex of 2000 apartments were home to more than 4600 people in the financial hub, which is struggling to overcome chronic shortages of affordable housing.
Police also said they found foam material sealing windows on one unaffected building, installed in year-long maintenance work.
The city’s development bureau has discussed gradually replacing bamboo scaffolding with metal scaffolding as a safety measure.
Reuters, AP
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