Police in Hong Kong arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter, several local news media reported, in connection with a blaze that has killed at least 36 people and left another 279 missing in the city's deadliest fire in years.
Hundreds of residents were evacuated as the blaze spread across seven of the eight buildings in a housing complex in Tai Po district, a suburb in the New Territories. At least 29 others remained hospitalised. Bright flames and smoke shot out of windows as night fell.
Investigators will be looking into factors including whether material on the exterior walls of high-rise buildings met fire resistance standards, as the rapid spread of the fire was unusual, authorities said.
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Officials earlier said the fire started on the external scaffolding of one of the buildings, a 32-storey tower, and later spread to inside the building and then to nearby buildings, likely aided by windy conditions.
By the early hours of Thursday morning local time, fires were extinguished in three buildings, with four still showing "scattered traces of fire," according to Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee.
"Police and the Fire Services Department have already set up a dedicated investigation team to investigate" the fire and its cause, Lee said. The probe includes whether criminal elements are involved.
Fire chiefs said high temperatures at the scene made it difficult for crews to mount rescue operations. It was not immediately known how the fire started.
The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke as it spread quickly on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been set up around the exterior of the housing complex.
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Records show the housing complex consisted of eight blocks with almost 2000 apartments housing about 4800 people.
About 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters.
Multiple buildings close to each other were set ablaze, with bright flames and smoke shooting out of windows as night fell. Authorities said that hundreds of firefighters, police officers and paramedics were deployed. Firefighters aimed water at the intense flames from high up on ladder trucks.
The blaze, which started mid-afternoon, was upgraded a level 5 alarm — the highest level of severity — as night fell. Authorities said that conditions remained very challenging for firefighters.
"Debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings (is) falling down," Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Service operations, said.
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Temperatures are scorching hot inside Wang Fuk Court as the fire rages on, preventing firefighters from reaching the upper floors of some buildings, where residents are still trapped.
Addressing those stuck inside the burning buildings, Chan urged residents to close their doors and windows, and seal them with tape and wet napkins.
Firefighters know where people are trapped, he said. "However, due to extreme heat inside the specific buildings, we are currently unable to reach upward to those trapped inside," Chan continued, adding: "We will keep going and keep trying."
Officials said the fire started at the external scaffolding of one of the buildings, a 32-storey tower, and later spread to inside the building and also to nearby buildings, likely aided by windy conditions.
The fire department said that it received "numerous" calls requesting assistance. It said some residents remained trapped as of Wednesday night, but police declined to provide details about how many were missing or in danger.
Firefighters deployed 128 fire trucks and 57 ambulances to the scene.
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The dead included a 37-year-old firefighter, while another received treatment for heat exhaustion, Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung said.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday expressed condolences to the firefighter who died and extended sympathies to the families of the victims, according to state broadcaster CCTV. He also urged efforts to minimise casualties and losses.
District officials in Tai Po have opened temporary shelters for people left homeless by the fire.
"I've given up thinking about my property," a resident who only provided her surname, Wu, told local TV station TVB.
"Watching it burn like that was really frustrating."
Tai Po is a suburban area in the New Territories, in the northern part of Hong Kong and near the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects, though the government said earlier this year that it would start phasing it out for public projects because of safety concerns.
The fire is the most deadly in Hong Kong in years. In November 1996, 41 people died in a commercial building in Kowloon in a level 5 fire that lasted for around 20 hours.
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