Hong Kong police arrest 3 as apartment fire death toll rises to 44, hundreds missing

A huge fire still burning in a Hong Kong apartment complex that has killed at least 44 people and left almost 300 missing may have been spread by unsafe scaffolding and foam materials used during maintenance work, police said on Thursday.

Working through the night, firefighters were struggling to reach residents potentially trapped on the upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex due to the intense heat and thick smoke from the fire that erupted on Wednesday afternoon. The complex in the northern Tai Po district has 2,000 apartments in eight blocks.

By early Thursday morning, authorities said they had brought the fire in four blocks under control, with operations continuing in three blocks after more than 15 hours.

Video from the scene showed flames still leaping from at least two of the 32-storey towers and heavy smoke billowing from several.

Police said in addition to the buildings being covered with protective mesh sheets and plastic that may not meet fire standards, they discovered some windows on one unaffected building were sealed with a foam material, installed by a construction company carrying out maintenance work.

"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," Eileen Chung, a Hong Kong police superintendent, said.

Three men from the construction company, two directors and one engineering consultant, had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the fire, she added.

The green construction mesh and bamboo scaffolding used on the buildings are a mainstay of traditional Chinese architecture but have been subject to a phase-out in Hong Kong since March for safety reasons.

A firefighter was among the 44 killed, with 45 people in hospital in critical condition, Hong Kong police told a press conference before dawn on Thursday.

The death toll is now the highest in a Hong Kong fire since World War Two, surpassing the 41 killed in a blaze in a commercial building in the Kowloon district in November 1996.

The latest fire has prompted comparisons to the Grenfell Tower inferno that killed 72 people in London in 2017. That fire was blamed on firms fitting the exterior with flammable cladding, as well as failings by the government and the construction industry.

"The priority is to extinguish the fire and rescue the residents who are trapped," Hong Kong leader John Lee told reporters earlier. "The second is to support the injured. The third is to support and recover. Then, we'll launch a thorough investigation."

Some 279 people were uncontactable and 900 were in eight shelters, he added.

One 71-year-old resident surnamed Wong broke down in tears, saying his wife was trapped inside.

Harry Cheung, 66, who has lived at Block Two in one of the complexes for more than 40 years, said he heard a loud noise about 2:45 p.m. (0645 GMT) and saw fire erupt in a nearby block.

"I immediately went back to pack up my things," he said.

"I don't even know how I feel right now. I'm just thinking about where I'm going to sleep tonight."

The Philippine foreign ministry said in a statement that its consulate in Hong Kong had received unverified information that some Filipino domestic workers may be trapped inside the buildings. It said it was coordinating with the police to assist any Filipino national affected.