Firefighting at Hong Kong blaze ends with deaths over 90, dozens missing

According to a government official, the deadliest fire in Hong Kong’s history has been contained, with 94 dead and dozens more missing.

The fire service reported that “firefighting operations have ended” as of Friday, 10:18 AM (02:18 GMT), and that the company’s operations were “largely extinguished.”

More than 4,600 people live on the eight-story Wang Fuk Court estate in Tai Po’s northern district, which was covered in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh when the fire started and quickly spread on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the police, three construction company employees have been detained on suspicion of manslaughter for using dangerous materials, including flammable foam boards that block windows.

The complex’s firefighters continued to work on Friday morning.

Deputy Fire Services Director Derek Chan stated to reporters early on Friday that “we’ll work with force to prevent any other possible casualties” by attempting forcible entry into all the seven buildings.

According to Al Jazeera’s Jessica Washington, who is reporting from outside the residential complex, firefighters have been attempting to locate any trapped residents by going through each of the apartments on Friday.

She said, “The community is grieving a lot.”

In the early hours of Thursday morning, 279 people were reported missing, but that number has not changed in more than 24 hours.

According to Chan, there are currently 25 calls for assistance from the Fire Department, of which three are urgently needed.

“I’m hoping they can find more survivors inside the building.” The firefighters have done a lot, according to resident Jacky Kwok, and I believe they had made the best of it.

No one wanted it to happen, according to the statement.

As they attempted to reach residents feared trapped on the upper floors of the complex, rescuers had to battle intense heat, thick smoke, and shattered scaffolding and debris.

A distraught woman carrying her daughter’s graduation photo and a woman with a broken leg searched for her child outside a shelter, one of eight, which the authorities claimed housed 900 people.

According to Chan, who did not provide further information, firefighters discovered survivors in several buildings, with the majority of the victims in two towers of the complex.

The Hospital Authority reported that 94 people had already died as of early on Friday.

According to the Indonesian consulate, two of the dead were domestic helpers who were Indonesian nationals. There are about 368,000 domestic workers in Hong Kong, primarily women from low-income Asian nations who co-habitate with their employers.

The fire has caused comparisons to London’s Grenfell Tower inferno, which killed 72 people in 2017 and is now Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse fire.

While some of China’s largest listed companies announced donations, Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, announced that the government would establish a 300-million ($39 million) fund to assist residents.