Large-scale fire in Hong Kong: 44 dead, hundreds missing

As a result of a large-scale fire in the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in northern Hong Kong, according to the latest data, 44 people have died, and hundreds of people are still listed as missing.

Hong Kong authorities have reported the detention of three people on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the fire.

Police reported that the detainees - men aged between 52 and 68 - work for a construction company that was carrying out renovations in the complex.

Two of the detainees are company executives, and another is a consulting engineer.

Authorities stated that materials were found on the exterior of the buildings that apparently are not fire-resistant.

"We have reason to believe that the company management showed gross negligence, which led to this tragedy and caused an uncontrolled spread of fire, resulting in a large-scale disaster," said a police representative.

A 65-year-old resident of the residential complex told AFP that he had lived there for more than four decades, and many of his neighbors were elderly people.

"The windows were closed due to renovation work, [some residents] didn't know that a fire had occurred, and neighbors informed them by phone that they needed to evacuate," he said. "I'm in shock."

More than 700 people fought the fire, which engulfed seven of the eight buildings of the high-rise residential complex. The morning after the tragedy, firefighters were still trying to contain several fire hotspots.

The cause of the fire is unknown; it broke out at the moment when renovation work was being carried out in the residential complex.

On Thursday morning, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said that 279 people were listed as missing, although later firefighters reported that they had established contact with some of them.

Lee said that more than 900 people had found shelter in temporary accommodation.

As reported by Chinese state television CCTV, Chinese leader Xi Jinping expressed condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the fire.

The fire was reported at 2:51 PM local time on Wednesday. The fire was assigned the fifth, highest level of danger. Police evacuated residents of nearby buildings.

66-year-old Harry Chen, who lived in the second block of the Wang Fuk Court complex, told Reuters that around 2:45 PM (6:45 GMT) he heard a "very loud sound" and saw a fire break out in a neighboring building.

"I don't even know what I feel right now. I'm just thinking about where I'll sleep tonight because I probably won't be able to go back home," he says.

Some residents of the complex were outraged that the fire was allowed to reach such proportions and criticized the authorities' response.

"When there's a forest fire, they deploy helicopters and drop water, so why aren't they doing that here? How can they allow other buildings to continue burning?" says a 60-year-old resident of the complex named Poon.

"We live very close to the fire station, and we thought the fire would be quickly extinguished, but now it has spread. I'm so disappointed," she said in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

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