Hong Kong’s Blaze apartment death toll rises to 146 as city mourns

The number of people trapped in a Hong Kong apartment building rose to 146 on Sunday as investigators found more bodies in the burned buildings. A strong stream of people placed in the joy of flowers in the growing Memorial of growth at the scene of the disaster, among the worst in the history of the city.

The victim identification unit of the Hong Kong police has been dealing with the buildings of the Wang Fuk District Court very carefully and found both bodies in the apartment units and the roof, said the police officer in charge, Cheng Ka-Chun.

The buildings always feel orderly, but the search is slow, he told reporters, still wearing his white coveralls with his heavy hat and breathing mask at his side. “It’s dark inside, and because of the low light, it’s very difficult to do work, especially in places far from the windows.”

So far the team has explored four of the seven blocks, said Cheng.

A recent search turned up 30 more bodies, including 12 that had already been found by firefighters but had never been found, said Tsang Shuk-Yin, head of the Hong Kong Police’s Special Operations Unit.

Watch | It is alleged that the following arrests have been made:

Hong Kong’s deadly fire is fueled by some pent-up fire

A fire spread through several high-rise buildings in the Hong Kong Houdining Complex on Wednesday, killing at least 36 people and leaving others trapped inside, authorities said.

Other projects by the same builder are being put on hold

Hong Kong authorities announced late on Saturday an immediate suspension of work on 28 construction projects carried out by the same contractor, Prestige Construction & Nexgiting, for a safety audit.

“The five-alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po, revealed a serious lack of PC&E safety management, including the maintenance of foams during construction,” the government said in a statement.

The company did not return calls for comment on Sunday.

Three men – the Directors and the engineering consultant of the construction company – were arrested the day before the fire on suspicion of suspicion and suspicion of murder, and the police were accused of gross negligence. Police did not identify the company by name.

The three were released on bail but were re-arrested by Hong Kong’s anti-corruption authorities, who arrested 8 suspects, including Scaffolding Subcontractors, directors of an engineering consultancy.

Faulty fire alarms, foam panels under investigation

Eight 31-storey apartment buildings in Tai Po, a suburb near the border of Hong Kong and Mainland China, were built in the 1980s. It had about 2,000 rooms and over 4,600 residents.

Many are now being held in emergency shelters or city hotels, and authorities are working on long-term solutions.

“It’s sad,” said Jeffery Chan, a rib boy who came to pay his respects on Sunday.

“As a hong konger, seeing people in the area where we live have lost their families, lost them all at night – if you put yourself in their shoes, support and help the people of Hong Kong.”

A preliminary investigation showed the fire started Wednesday afternoon in the lower scaffolding net of one of the buildings and quickly spread inside as the foam panels contained the fire, said Chris Kong, security secretary. The winds helped the flames jump from building to building, and soon seven of the eight.

First responders discovered that some of the fire alarms in the story, which housed many elderly people, did not sound when tested, according to Andy Yeang Service.

The dead included seven Indonesian migrant workers, and a dozen remain detained, Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Another Filipino assistant was also killed and 12 others remained unaccounted for, the Philippines Consulate General in Hong Kong.

On Sunday afternoon, several hundred Filipinos lined a sidewalk in central Hong Kong, saying prayers and singing hymns to find victims of the fire.

In Beijing, the Ministry of Emergency Management announced a nationwide inspection of high-rise buildings to identify and eliminate fire hazards.

“Bamboo Scaffolding, Non-flame-retardant safety nets … and fire extinguishers and equipment such as fire hydrant systems, automatic sprinklers and automatic fire alarm systems will be among the priorities to be tested,” the Department said.

The Wang Fuk courthouse fire was the worst on record in the city since 1948, killing 1948 people.

The deadliest fire in Hong Kong’s recorded history was the 1918 race fire, in which more than 600 people were killed, according to the city’s antiquities and memorials office.