The death toll in the devastating fire at an apartment complex in Hong Kong rose significantly to 128 people this Friday (28), after firefighters finally managed to control the flames 42 hours after it started.
At least 79 people were injured in the flames in the Tai Po neighborhood, Hong Kong Security Secretary Chris Tang said at a press conference this Friday.
Tang warned that the death toll could rise further as there are around 200 people whose status is unknown. That number includes several bodies that have not yet been identified, he added.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and the police investigation into why the flames spread quickly from building to building, turning the fire in a single block of apartments into multiple simultaneous outbreaks on several floors, is expected to take three to four weeks, he said.
Authorities believe the initial fire started on the lower floors of the Wang Cheong building, Block 6 of a series of eight towers that make up Wang Fuk Court, a compact residential complex that housed more than four thousand people, many of them elderly.
Wang Fuk Court was under renovation when the fire broke out, and all eight towers were green.
Police had previously found the construction company’s name on flammable expanded polystyrene signs that firefighters found blocking some windows at the apartment complex.
“The fire ignited the protective screens and quickly spread to the polystyrene sheets around the windows, resulting in fires on other floors and buildings,” Tang said.
“After the polystyrene caught fire, the high temperature caused the windows to shatter, allowing the fire to spread inside,” he explained.
As the protective nets and bamboo scaffolding caught fire and collapsed, the flames spread to other floors, the secretary said.
Firefighters and residents faced extreme conditions inside the building, with temperatures reaching more than 500 degrees Celsius, he added.
Tang said the safety nets complied with safety standards.
Rescue efforts were further complicated as some units inside the buildings reignited even after .
