Hong Kong: 3 men arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with apartment fire

On Thursday (Nov 27), Hong Kong Police have arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the fire in the high-rise complex in Tai Po. The officials have announced they will be holding a press conference to share further details. On Wednesday (Nov 26) Hong Kong witnessed the worst blaze in 10 years as a crowded high-rise complex was engulfed in fire. The death toll has mounted to at least 36, and more than 200 people are missing. The fire sparked first in the afternoon and is still burning even in the early hours of Thursday.

Huge flames first took hold on bamboo scaffolding on several apartment blocks of Wang Fuk Court, which contains nearly 2,000 flats in eight towers in the northern district of Tai Po and was reportedly undergoing estate-wide maintenance. City leader John Lee early Thursday gave the death toll as 36, including a firefighter, with 279 people unaccounted for.

Twenty-nine people were hospitalised, with seven in critical condition. Lee said the fire was "gradually getting under control", with flames still spotted at four out of the eight buildings in the complex. He was speaking almost 12 hours after the fire broke out.

The cause was still not known.

At the scene of the fire, an AFP reporter heard loud cracking sounds, possibly from the burning bamboo, and saw thick plumes of smoke billowing from the buildings as flames and ash reached high into the sky. A 65-year-old resident surnamed Yuen said he had lived in the complex for more than four decades and that many of his neighbours were elderly and might not be mobile.

"The windows were closed because of the maintenance, (some people) didn't know there was a fire and had to be told to evacuate via phone calls by neighbours," Yuen told AFP.

"I'm devastated. There is loss of property and loss of life, and even a firefighter has died."

(With agency inputs)