HONG KONG, Dec 1 — Hong Kong's authorities pressed ahead today 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.
The 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 along a canal next to the doomed Wang Fuk Court estate yesterday.
Vigils are also due to take place this week in Tokyo, Japan, and London, the United Kingdom. The authorities said that around 40 people are still missing.
The cause of the blaze that started on Wednesday (November 26) and quickly spread across the exterior of the apartments under renovation is still under investigation.
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.
Sources familiar with the matter said that at least one person involved in a petition calling for an independent probe, among other demands, has been detained.
The 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
Yesterday, senior police official Amy Lam said the remaining buildings to be scoured for remains are "the difficult ones", 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 this morning to continue their search of the burnt-out buildings.
The apartment blocks were home to more than 4,000 people, according to census data, and those who escaped must now try to get their lives back on track.
Over 1,100 people have been moved out of evacuation centres into temporary housing, with a further 680 put up in youth hostels and hotels.
With many residents leaving behind belongings as they fled, authorities have offered emergency funds of HK$10,000 (RM5,305.87) per household and provided special assistance in issuing new identity cards, passports, and marriage certificates.
Eleven 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.
The authorities have arrested 11 people as part of investigations into possible corruption and the use of unsafe materials during the renovations.
It was revealed that the building was wrapped in green mesh and bamboo scaffolding and layered with foam insulation at the time. The fire alarms at the complex were also not working properly.
Hong Kong's Labour Department stated that Wang Fuk Court residents were told by the authorities last year that they faced "relatively low fire risks" after complaining about fire hazards posed by the renovations.
A department spokesman said that residents raised concerns in September 2024, including about the potential flammability of the mesh contractors used to cover the scaffolding.
On Saturday (November 29), the police 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.
Kwan left a police station in a taxi this afternoon, according to a Reuters witness.
The South China Morning Post reported that two others have also since been arrested on suspicion of seditious intent. The police declined to comment on those reported arrests.
On Saturday, China's National Security Office warned individuals 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’. No matter what methods you use, you will certainly be held accountable and strictly punished," it said in a statement.
