News reaching our platform confirms that Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in at least 63 years has killed at least 55 people so far, and 270 people are still missing.
It has already matched the toll of the August 1962 inferno in the Sham Shui Po neighborhood, which killed 44 people and left hundreds more homeless in the city. Around 50 lbs (22.7 kg) of fireworks stored on the premises had caused the blaze to spread quickly to the upper floors, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
In November 1996, a fire at the Garley Building in Kowloon killed 41 people and injured 81 others.
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The deadliest blaze on record happened in 1948 following a ground-floor explosion at a five-story warehouse containing “dangerous goods,” according to SCMP. It killed 176 people.
As some of the buildings in Wang Fuk Court continue to burn, the materials used in their renovation have come under scrutiny.
No matter the cause of the fire, proper netting on the buildings’ exterior would have been key to preventing the spread of fire, Jason Poon, chairman of construction NGO Chinat Monitor, told Mandarin news outlet Initium Media.
Another engineer told Initium Media he believes that the vast majority of mesh netting used in construction across Hong Kong is not made of fire-retardant material.
There are also often cardboard, debris, and thinner found on the scaffolding, which, along with dry weather, could hasten the spread of fire, the engineer said.
Earlier today, fire officials noted the “unusual” presence of “extremely inflammable” styrofoam boards covering the windows of the Wang Fuk Court apartment blocks.
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