6 months ago
1
Firefighting, rescue and hunt operations astatine seven high-rise buildings successful Hong Kong were halted connected Friday (November 28, 2025), the 3rd time aft a monolithic blaze broke out, arsenic the decease toll climbed to 128 with implicit 200 inactive missing.
The Hong Kong Police person launched an probe into however the clump of buildings, lodging astir 4,600 residents successful 1,984 apartments, caught fire.
Firefighting, rescue and hunt operations were completed astatine 10 a.m. section time, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) authorities told a property conference.
The decease toll truthful acold successful the occurrence astatine Wang Fuk Court successful Tai Po stood astatine 128, Chris Tang Ping-keung, caput for information of the HKSAR government, said.
It cannot beryllium ruled retired that much bodies whitethorn beryllium recovered erstwhile the constabulary participate the country for probe later, helium was quoted arsenic saying by the state-run Xinhua quality agency.
Over 200 radical stay unaccounted for, Mr. Tang said, arsenic families of the missing persons anxiously hold for the quality astir their loved ones.
Meanwhile, 8 people, including a woman, who were connected with the renovation enactment of the buildings, were arrested by Hong Kong's anti-corruption body.
A full of 391 occurrence motor sorties, 185 ambulance sorties, and 2,311 occurrence and ambulance unit were deployed during the three-day operation, officials said. One firefighter died, and 12 were injured.
Tang said the Hong Kong Police Force volition behaviour afloat grounds postulation and investigation, which is expected to instrumentality 3 to 4 weeks.
The origin of the occurrence has not been identified, but Styrofoam extracurricular windows is suspected to person fuelled its accelerated spread, the BBC reported.
Survivors complained that occurrence alarms did not function, owed to which the residents got nary aboriginal warning.
Mr. Tang said the occurrence archetypal broke retired successful the lower-level perimeter nets of Wang Cheong House, igniting foam boards and spreading rapidly to different buildings. This caused the solid to shatter, the occurrence to intensify sharply and dispersed indoors, resulting successful a catastrophe with large-scale simultaneous ignition.
High temperatures burned the bamboo scaffolding, and falling burning bamboo pieces acceptable occurrence to different scaffolding nets, helium said.
With the buildings wholly gutted, survivors person been relocated to 1,000 vacant flats nearby.
The HKSAR authorities has announced a "condolence payment" of 200,000 Hong Kong dollars (approx USD 25,693) to the household of each victim. A surviving allowance of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars per household volition beryllium disbursed from adjacent week, the Xinhua study said.
The HKSAR authorities has besides rolled retired an exigency currency assistance of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars to each affected household since Thursday (November 27, 2025) evening to conscionable their urgent needs.
