HONG KONG — The deadly inferno that tore through a high-rise housing estate in Hong Kong killed at least 128 people, authorities said Friday, with dozens of residents still feared trapped on upper floors.
A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Fire Services Department said that there were 76 people injured, including 11 firefighters, by early morning Friday local time.
Authorities arrested three people and launched a criminal investigation into the blaze, the Chinese territory’s deadliest in seven decades, which firefighters have been battling for more than 24 hours.
The fire at Wang Fuk Court in the northern district of Tai Po is nearly extinguished, said Derek Armstrong Chan, the deputy director of Hong Kong Fire Services, in an update early Friday local time.
Firefighters were still searching the building for residents trapped by the intense heat and thick smoke that was pouring out of the complex on Thursday, and Chan said debris and scaffolding falling from upper floors had complicated rescue efforts. At least 72 people were injured in the fire.
A 48-year-old woman named Cindy, who declined to give her full name for privacy reasons, said she grew up in Wang Fuk Court and felt “very sad” and “helpless” to see her parents’ home completely burned down.
Cindy told NBC News on a sidewalk across from the affected buildings that her family managed to escape and was now safe. “I really hope there are survivors. I’m wishing for a miracle to happen,” she added. “No one in the world can sleep now.”
Though the origin of the fire was unclear, investigators were focusing on the bamboo scaffolding and green netting that surrounded the towers at Wang Fuk Court as renovations were carried out.
Experts said they appeared to help flames leap from building to building as the blaze grew into an inferno that engulfed seven of the estate’s eight towers.
Chan said: “Our preliminary view is that the fire spreading so fast is likely related to these materials. But ... whether that is actually the case, we have to wait for our fire investigation colleagues to conduct an investigation to confirm.”
Police searched the offices of Prestige Construction and Engineering Co., the registered contractor hired to carry out the renovations, after earlier arresting two directors and an engineering consultant on suspicion of manslaughter.
Multiple calls to the company from NBC News went unanswered Thursday.
The city’s anticorruption agency said it was launching an investigation into possible corruption in the renovation project.
John Lee, Hong Kong’s top leader, said the government would set up a fund worth 300 million Hong Kong dollars ($38.6 million) to help residents displaced from their homes, and that each household affected would receive an emergency cash allowance of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1,285) by Thursday night. More than 500 people were staying at nine temporary shelters after the blaze.
Lee also said the Hong Kong Development Bureau had met with industry representatives to discuss gradually replacing the city’s iconic bamboo scaffolding with metal, as the construction material becomes a focal point of the fire investigation.
Renovations on the towers, which were built in 1983 and contain almost 2,000 residential units, began last year. According to Hong Kong’s 2021 census, about a third of Wang Fuk Court’s 4,600 residents are 65 and older.
Fire officials said an older man was rescued from the rooftop of the 31st floor of one tower about 20 hours after the fire began, and was sent to the hospital for observation. Firefighters were also seen evacuating a number of pets.
Lee said earlier Thursday that officials were investigating whether protective materials on exterior walls met fire-retardant standards and that legal action would be brought if necessary.
Security Secretary Chris Tang said authorities would pursue a criminal investigation, citing two “unusual” circumstances.
The first involved the protective nets, waterproof canvas and plastic sheeting on the external walls of the towers.
“Once ignited, the intensity and speed of the fire’s spread were far greater than that of materials meeting safety standards,” Tang said.
He also said glass windows had been sealed with styrofoam boards, “which spread fire very easily when exposed to heat.”
Among those killed was Ho Wai-ho, a 37-year-old firefighter who was one of the first people to respond. He died in the hospital after being found collapsed at the scene of the fire.
Ho had been a member of the Fire Services Department (FSD) for about nine years, director Andy Yeung said.
“I am profoundly grieved at the loss of this dedicated and gallant fireman,” Yeung said in a statement.
The Indonesian Consulate said two of the people killed and two of those injured were Indonesian nationals. All of them were foreign domestic helpers employed by Hong Kong residents to assist with housework and caregiving.
Countries around the world sent condolences.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic fire in Tai Po. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all those affected by this devastating fire,” the U.S. consul general in Hong Kong said in a post on Instagram.
Pope Leo XIV also sent his condolences in a letter to Hong Kong’s Cardinal Stephen Chow, expressing “spiritual solidarity to all those suffering from the effects of this calamity, especially the injured and the families who grieve.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences late Wednesday and urged “all-out efforts” to minimize casualties and losses in Hong Kong, a densely populated city of 7.5 million people.
By Thursday afternoon, officials said, the fire had been extinguished at four of the seven towers, while flames at the other three were under control.
Though there was less smoke than earlier, it continued to billow from the buildings, and the air smelled of burned plastic as firefighters sprayed water from multiple aerial ladders.
Hong Kong residents were collecting donations for those affected. Across the street from the estate, volunteers set up a makeshift relief point, where people brought bottled water, bread and face masks in bags and carts.
“It’s really amazing — so many people from all walks of life have brought in a lot of stuff voluntarily,” volunteer Fion Ho said in an interview. “There’s even so much that we’ve had to stop accepting more.”
At the nearby Tung Cheong Street Sports Center, volunteers said they had helped register more than 200 residents affected by the fire so they could be placed in proper housing elsewhere in Hong Kong, where the lack of affordable housing is a chronic issue.
Volunteers said their biggest issue was that they were running out of space for donations, though people periodically left with bags of bedding.
Corporations including Tencent, Xiaomi, Alibaba Group and BYD Global pledged sizable donations to recovery efforts, as did Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.
More than 30 bus routes were diverted and some roads in the area remained closed to all traffic, according to the Transport Department, while classes were suspended at multiple schools in Tai Po, a suburban district near the border with mainland China.
Campaigning has also been suspended ahead of Hong Kong’s Dec. 7 legislative election.
It is the deadliest blaze in Hong Kong since 1948, when 176 people were killed in a warehouse fire.
