Hong Kong police comb fire-ravaged towers, 11 arrested as death toll hits 146

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - HONG KONG, Dec 1 — Hong Kong authorities pressed ahead on Monday with combing the remaining apartment towers destroyed by a massive fire at a housing estate that killed at least 146 people and displaced hundreds now adjusting to life in temporary housing.

Police have completed sweeps of four of the seven towers that were engulfed in the city’s deadliest fire in more than 75 years, finding bodies of residents in stairwells and on rooftops, trapped as they tried to flee the flames.

Thousands have turned out to pay tribute to the victims, who include at least nine domestic helpers from Indonesia and one from the Philippines, with lines of mourners stretching more than a kilometre (a half-mile) along a canal next to the doomed Wang Fuk Court estate on Sunday.

Vigils are also due to take place this week in Tokyo and London. Around 40 people are still missing, authorities said.

The cause of the blaze that started last Wednesday and quickly fanned across the exterior of the apartments under renovation is still being investigated.

But amid pockets of public anger over missed fire risk warnings and evidence of unsafe construction practices, Beijing has warned it would crack down on any “anti-China” protests

At least one person involved in a petition calling for an independent probe among other demands has been detained, sources familiar with the matter said.

Police have declined to comment on specifics, saying only that they will take action in accordance with the law.

Search moves to worst affected buildings

The remaining buildings to be scoured for remains are “the difficult ones”, Amy Lam, a senior police official told reporters on Sunday, adding that the final leg of the search may take weeks.

Images shared by police showed officers clad in hazmat suits, face masks and helmets, inspecting rooms with blackened walls and furniture reduced to ashes, and wading through water used to douse fires that raged for days.

Throngs of officers arrived at the site early on Monday morning to continue their search of the burnt-out buildings.

The apartment blocks were home to more than 4000 people, according to census data, and those that escaped must now try to get their lives back on track.

More than 1,100 people have been moved out of evacuation centres into temporary housing, with a further 680 put up in youth hostels and hotels, authorities said.

With many residents leaving behind belongings as they fled, authorities have offered emergency funds of HK$10,000 (RM5,307) to each household and provided special assistance for issuing new identity cards, passports and marriage certificates.

Eleven people arrested in fire probe

Hong Kong’s deadliest fire since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze, has stunned the city, where legislative elections are due to be held this weekend.

Authorities have arrested 11 people as part of investigations into possible corruption and the use of unsafe materials during the renovations.

The building was wrapped in green mesh and bamboo scaffolding and layered with foam insulation at the time. Fire alarms at the complex were also not working properly, authorities have said.

Residents of Wang Fuk Court were told by authorities last year they faced “relatively low fire risks” after complaining about fire hazards posed by the renovations, the city’s Labour Department said.

The residents raised concerns in September, 2024, including about the potential flammability of the mesh contractors used to cover the scaffolding, a department spokesperson said.

Police on Saturday detained Miles Kwan, 24, part of a group that launched a petition demanding an independent probe into possible corruption and a review of construction oversight, two people familiar with the matter said. Reuters could not establish whether he had been arrested.

Two others have also since been arrested on suspicion of seditious intent, the South China Morning Post said. The police declined to comment on those reported arrests.

China’s national security office warned individuals on Saturday against using the disaster to “plunge Hong Kong back into the chaos” of 2019, when massive pro-democracy protests challenged Beijing and triggered a political crisis.

“We sternly warn the anti-China disruptors who attempt to ‘disrupt Hong Kong through disaster’,” the office said in a statement. “No matter what methods you use, you will certainly be held accountable and strictly punished.” — Reuters