“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 of 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 as he stood near the scorched building on Thursday night. “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 on Thursday afternoon.
Firefighting efforts continued into a second day.Credit: AP
Hong Kong police arrested the bosses of a construction company on suspicion of manslaughter over the city’s worst fire in nearly 80 years.
They were 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.
Police said they found foam material sealing windows on one unaffected building, installed in the year-long maintenance work. The city’s development bureau has discussed gradually replacing bamboo scaffolding with metal scaffolding as a safety measure.
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 Services 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 department said.
Volunteers provide clothing and supplies for surviving residents in the aftermath of the deadly fire. Credit: AP
It was unclear how many people were still unaccounted. The government said in the very early hours that 279 people were listed as missing, but that figure had not yet been updated.
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.
Residents seeks shelter in a nearby shopping centre in the aftermath of the fire.Credit: AP
On the second night after the blaze, dozens of evacuees set up mattresses in a nearby shopping centre, with many saying official evacuation centres should be saved for those with greater need.
People – from elderly residents to schoolchildren – wrapped themselves in doonas and huddled in tents outside a McDonald’s 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.
Loading
On Thursday night, Lau Wan King told The New York Times that his brother-in-law was a resident of the first building that caught fire. The 79-year-old part-time minibus driver said he had been standing outside a police cordon near the towers for 12 hours, waiting for news.
He said he called his relative on his mobile phone as soon as he heard about the blaze. His brother-in-law said he was having trouble fleeing his apartment on the eighth floor because the building was already filled with smoke. It was the last time they spoke.
“There is not much hope now,” Lau said.
Reuters, AP
