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NEED TO KNOW
- The death toll from the Hong Kong high-rise fire this week has risen to 128, while around 200 people remain missing
- The fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s northern Tai Po district on Wednesday, Nov. 26
- The cause of the blaze remains under investigation
The death toll from a devastating Hong Kong high-rise fire — the worst there since 1948 — has risen to 128, with about 200 more people still missing and more than 70 others injured, according to multiple news reports.
The fire broke out at the Wang Fuk Court complex in Hong Kong’s northern Tai Po district around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 26, the Hong Kong government said in a news release.
The towers are home to approximately 4,600 people, many of them over the age of 65, The New York Times reports.
The blaze was extinguished on Friday, Nov. 28, with the help of some 2,300 firefighters and an investigation into the cause remains ongoing, according to the Times and the BBC, though authorities believe construction materials on the outside of the towers fed the flames that started in one tower and soon spread to others.
Some of the residents had previously criticized the flammability of the mesh used along with construction scaffolding around the complex, NBC News reported.
An official with Hong Kong’s Fire Services said all of the alarms did not sound at the start of the fire, according to NBC.
Chris Tang, Hong Kong’s secretary of security, said Friday that only 39 victims have been identified, the Times reported.
Peter PARKS / AFP via Getty
“The priority is to extinguish the fire and rescue the residents who are trapped,” Lee previously told reporters, according to Reuters. “The second is to support the injured. The third is to support and recover. Then, we’ll launch a thorough investigation.”
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in relation to the blaze, CNN reported, citing a Hong Kong Police spokesperson.
Others are being investigated for potential corruption, according to the BBC.
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The complex, with 2,000 apartments in eight blocks, has been occupied since 1983 and is under the government’s subsidized home ownership scheme, per the BBC and Reuters.
Temporary shelters have been set up for evacuated residents in the Tai Po district, the South Morning China Post reported