Hong Kong fire death toll climbs to 128
The death toll from Hong Kong’s deadliest fire has risen to 128, authorities reported Friday, following 40 grueling hours of firefighting operations.
Around 200 people remain unaccounted for, the city’s security chief said, as families continue searching hospital lists for news of their missing loved ones, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Flames had moved quickly through the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po district on Wednesday afternoon, spreading through the eight high-rises and transforming the densely packed complex into an inferno.
After burning for over 40 hours, the blaze was "largely extinguished" by 10:18am (02:18 GMT) Friday, the fire services said, announcing the end of its operations.
Authorities are investigating what sparked the fire, including examining the bamboo scaffolding and plastic mesh wrapped around the complex as part of a major renovation.
At the charred apartment blocks, workers searched for survivors and pulled out bodies in black bags, according to witnesses.
Vehicles unloaded corpses at a mortuary in nearby Sha Tin, another reporter saw, with families expected to arrive in the afternoon for identification.
Around 200 people were still missing and 79 people were injured, including 12 firefighters, according to city authorities.
At one hospital in Sha Tin, a woman surnamed Wong was looking for her sister-in-law and her sister-in-law's twin, with no luck.
"We still cannot find them. So we are going to different hospitals to ask if they have good news," the 38-year-old told AFP in tears.
"We were already waiting at the Prince of Wales Hospital on the first day but there was no news. We also came here yesterday."
The last contact anyone had with the twins was on Wednesday afternoon, said Wong, around the time the fire was reported.
"One building went up in flames and it spread to two more blocks in less than 15 minutes," a 77-year-old eyewitness surnamed Mui told AFP.
"It was very quick. It was burning red, I shudder to think about it."
The fire was Hong Kong's deadliest since 1948, when an explosion followed by a fire killed at least 135 people.
The toll from the Hong Kong blaze surpassed the toll of similar incidents across the world, including London's Grenfell Tower in 2017, which killed 72 people and a 2023 Hanoi apartment block fire, which killed 56 people.
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