Final searches begin after seven towers burn, killing 94 and triggering criminal arrests

HONG KONG Firefighters carried out a final, meticulous sweep through a devastated apartment complex on Friday as Hong Kong confronted the aftermath of one of the deadliest fires in its history. At least 94 people were killed when flames surged through seven of the eight residential towers in the Wang Fuk Court estate, leaving a trail of destruction and unanswered questions.

The blaze erupted on Wednesday afternoon in one of the towers in the Tai Po district. What began as a single-building fire escalated rapidly as bamboo scaffolding, wrapped in netting for renovation work, caught alight. The fire jumped from tower to tower with frightening speed, overwhelming residents and emergency crews alike. Within hours, seven towers were engulfed.

More than 1,000 firefighters battled the inferno for roughly 24 hours before finally bringing it under control. Even as dawn broke two days later, smoke continued to drift from the blackened structures, stirred by sporadic flare-ups inside the skeletal remains of the buildings.

Rescue teams received more than two dozen emergency calls from flats they were unable to reach during the height of the fire. Those units, mostly located on higher floors where the flames burned longest, were given priority in the final search. Officials confirmed that firefighters intended to force entry into every accessible unit across the seven damaged towers to ensure no victim remained inside.

Before the fire, the complex contained nearly 2,000 flats and housed around 4,800 residents. In the immediate aftermath, authorities were unable to make contact with 279 people. They cautioned that the number of missing residents could not be confirmed until every apartment had been checked thoroughly.

More than 70 people were injured during the disaster, including 11 firefighters. Approximately 900 residents were relocated to temporary shelters after fleeing their homes. The majority of casualties occurred in the first two towers overtaken by the flames, where the fire spread with exceptional speed.

The tragedy quickly sparked scrutiny of the renovation project under way at the estate. Authorities revealed suspicions that some exterior materials used during the works did not meet fire-resistance standards. They also discovered plastic foam panels  known to be highly flammable  attached to windows near the lift lobbies of the one tower that remained untouched by the fire. Investigators believe these panels were installed by the construction company, though their purpose remains unclear.

Police announced the arrest of three men  two company directors and an engineering consultant  on suspicion of manslaughter. Officers said they suspected gross negligence linked to the renovation works and seized boxes of documents from the company’s office as part of the investigation. Calls to the company reportedly went unanswered following the arrests.

In response to the disaster, authorities ordered immediate inspections of housing estates undergoing major renovation across Hong Kong. The checks will focus on scaffolding, construction materials and fire-safety compliance, an effort aimed at preventing a similar tragedy from occurring elsewhere.

The fire stands as the deadliest to strike the city in decades, surpassing a 1996 blaze in a Kowloon commercial building that claimed 41 lives. As firefighters completed their final search of the towers, families waited anxiously for news of loved ones while investigators continued probing how a routine renovation could lead to such a catastrophic loss of life.