🔗 Share this article

The city's chief executive, John Lee, has directed the formation of an separate inquiry panel to examine the reasons of a devastating fire that took a minimum of 151 individuals.

A Blaze of Unprecedented Scale

This past Wednesday, the majority of the apartment buildings at the Wang Fuk Court—which had been undergoing extensive renovations—went up in flames. A probe subsequently revealed that safety scaffolding mesh installed on the buildings fell short of fire safety regulations.

No fewer than 13 people have been arrested for alleged culpable homicide, among them the senior figures of a contractor.

"It is a terrible tragedy, it is a big fire. Changes are required. Failures have been detected in different stages. Hence we must respond rigorously to make certain all these loopholes are addressed," remarked Mr. Lee.

Investigation and Aftermath

The inferno—advancing with speed both upwards and between the blocks—was only fully doused by Friday morning, around 40 hours after it started, and took in excess of 2,000 emergency responders to bring under control.

On that day, officers commenced entry into the buildings to secure proof. Authorities say the probe could require approximately a month.

Shortcomings Uncovered

Multiple inhabitants have stated they failed to hear a smoke detector when the incident started. Hong Kong's fire service found that warning systems in all eight blocks were not working effectively.

The city's construction authority has halted for now construction activities on 30 private projects.

Calls for Inquiry and Arrests

Separately, officers took into custody a individual on charges related to sedition on the weekend. He was among a group demanding an separate review into the blaze. An internet-based appeal gathered over 10,000 endorsements in a very short time before its contents were wiped.

A pair of additional persons, among them a former district councillor, were also taken in by authorities, according to news outlets.

International Reaction

The rights group and The monitoring body have both condemned the said apprehensions.

"Now is the time for the city's officials to thoroughly and publicly probe the reasons of the devastating fire...instead of silencing those who pose valid inquiries," Amnesty International said.

Background and Resident Profile

Wang Fuk Court was built in 1983 and had supplied 1,984 apartments for some 4,600 residents, per a 2021 government census.

Almost four in ten of its residents are thought to be at least 65 years old. Several have been occupants of the subsidised housing estate since its construction.

The city's second-most fatal incident on file took 176 individuals in 1948 and was caused by a detonation at street level at a multi-story storage facility. The most deadly was at a local racetrack in 1918, when in excess of 600 attendees perished.