Hong Kong authorities are nearing the end of search and rescue operations at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po, where a catastrophic fire has claimed 94 lives in one of the city's deadliest blazes in over seven decades.
Rescue Efforts Approach Final Stages
Fire services deputy director Derek Armstrong Chan confirmed that rescue operations were "almost complete" by Friday morning, with crews prioritising apartments from which they had received more than two dozen distress calls during the emergency. Firefighters continued combing through the seven affected high-rises, attempting to locate any remaining survivors after the massive inferno spread through most of the eight-tower estate.
The devastating blaze, which began on Wednesday afternoon, raged for more than 24 hours before being mostly contained by Friday morning. Authorities reported that some apartments continued to burn, requiring ongoing efforts to prevent the flames from spreading and reigniting other sections of the buildings.
International Victims and Missing Persons
Indonesia's consul-general Yul Edison arrived on Friday afternoon to assist with identification efforts, confirming that at least one Indonesian national was among the deceased. Many Indonesian and Filipino domestic workers are employed in similar apartment complexes throughout Hong Kong.
A spokeswoman from the Mission for Migrant Workers NGO revealed that 11 Indonesian and 19 Filipino domestic helpers remain missing from the 119 known to reside in the building. The total number of missing persons hadn't been updated since early Thursday, when it exceeded 250 individuals.
Throughout Friday morning, distraught families gathered at the adjacent Kwong Fuk Estate community centre to identify bodies recovered from the gutted structures. Few names of the victims have been publicly released as identification efforts continue.
Investigation and Safety Concerns
Police and corruption authorities have launched investigations into the fire's cause, resulting in the arrest of three individuals from a construction company involved in the complex's years-long renovation project.
Officials have focused their attention on the bamboo scaffolding and green mesh enveloping the buildings, along with highly flammable styrofoam discovered in elevator window coverings on every floor. The construction materials are believed to have contributed to the fire's rapid spread through the 4,600-resident complex.
The tragedy has prompted urgent calls for strengthened fire safety regulations in Hong Kong's construction sector. Lee Kwong-sing, chair of Hong Kong Institute of Safety Practitioner, highlighted to RTHK that current codes of practice merely recommend rather than mandate flame-retardant materials, creating potential safety gaps.
A crowd-sourced web application has emerged to collate family reports about individual apartments, providing heartbreaking details of final messages and confirmed casualties. One report documented a 41-year-old man's last communication stating he was trapped between the 25th and 26th floor stairwells, while another confirmed three deaths in an 11th-floor flat including a 40-year-old Indian domestic helper.
