Key Points:
- The confirmed death toll has reached 94, including one firefighter, making this deadliest Hong Kong fire in nearly 80 years
- Police have arrested three individuals, two directors and an engineering consultant, from the construction firm on suspicion of manslaughter for using unsafe materials
- Preliminary investigations point to highly combustible bamboo scaffolding, plastic mesh, and styrofoam boards as the primary accelerants behind the rapid and uncontrollable spread of the fire
As search and rescue operations wind down, the death toll from the catastrophic Hong Kong Fire at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po has tragically climbed to 94.
While the full grief of the city settles, the investigative spotlight is now intensely focused not on the victims, but on the alleged gross negligence and use of highly flammable materials that allowed the blaze to spread with deadly speed across seven residential towers.
Anatomy of a Catastrophe
The Hong Kong fire, which broke out late Wednesday afternoon, quickly escalated to a Level 5 alarm, the highest severity, and consumed multiple 31-story residential blocks. The speed with which the flames moved from one building to the next has horrified fire safety experts and prompted a massive criminal investigation led by the Hong Kong Police Force.
The complex was undergoing a major renovation, and therein lies the suspected cause of the tragedy. Multiple official sources now allege that construction company officials were grossly negligent in their choice and use of materials.
The first critical factor was the ubiquitous presence of bamboo scaffolding. While a traditional and cost-effective construction method in Hong Kong, the entire eight-block complex was sheathed in the highly flammable material, which was itself wrapped in green construction netting and waterproof tarpaulins. This created a colossal, unbroken wick, allowing the fire to spread across the exterior walls with minimal resistance, reported by The Guardian.
The Foam That Sealed the Fate
The second, and perhaps more insidious, factor was the use of flammable styrofoam boards to seal the windows near lift lobbies on every floor of the towers. Fire Services Director Andy Yeung Yan-kin revealed that officers discovered this material inside the burning buildings.
“Everyone knows this material is inflammable… and could potentially accelerate the spread of fire, and it’s suspected it may be one of the causes [of] the fire, and [why it] spread so quickly,” stated Senior Police Superintendent Eileen Chung, as reported by The Indian Express.
These styrofoam panels, allegedly installed by the construction firm, created an internal channel for the blaze, igniting flats through the corridors and trapping many of the over 4,600 residents, a significant percentage of whom were elderly. This specific detail draws chilling comparisons to the 2017 Grenfell Tower inferno in London, where flammable cladding was the key accelerant.
Criminal Charges and Public Outcry
The police quickly acted, arresting two company directors and an engineering consultant from the contractor responsible for the renovations. They face charges of manslaughter, which carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment, emphasizing the gravity of the alleged negligence. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has also launched a separate probe into potential misconduct related to the high-value repair contract.
A viral video circulating online has further fuelled public anger, allegedly showing construction workers smoking on the scaffolding just moments before the blaze erupted, raising the possibility that an improperly discarded cigarette was the initial ignition source, as per The Economic Times. This highlights a critical failure in site safety protocols alongside the material failures.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has ordered immediate, extensive inspections of all public housing estates undergoing major renovations across the city. This is designed to prevent a recurrence of this unprecedented catastrophe and restore public faith in building safety standards following the devastating Hong Kong High-Rise Fire.
