The death toll in the deadly blaze that ravaged a Tai Po estate has killed at least 151 people, authorities have said, after police finished searching five of Wang Fuk Court’s seven affected towers.
| 💡 This report contains upsetting descriptions of police searches. |
Police from the Disaster Victims Identification Unit (DVIU) have begun combing Wang Sun House and Wang Cheung House, said Lam Man-han, a regional commander in the police force’s New Territories North, during a media briefing on Monday.
There were no bodies found in Wang Sun House, Lam said, adding that three quarters of the search operation had been completed.
She added that police were around a quarter of the way through search operations at Wang Cheong House, where the fire was first ignited. Eight bodies have been found there so far, Lam said.
“The conditions inside [Wang Cheong House] are extremely, extremely bad. It’s a scene of complete devastation,” she said, adding that some bodies had been reduced to ashes.
“No matter what, police will continue to search the disaster site in the hope of finding their belongings or clues… so their relatives can confirm their identity so they can rest in peace,” Lam said.
“The police deeply understand the deceased’s relatives now have to deal with indescribable grief and torment,” Lam said, adding that she believed search operations could be completed within three weeks.
During the briefing, Chief Superintendent Karen Tsang Shuk-yin of the police force’s casualty inquiry unit was visibly upset as she recounted details of the operation.
She said that, of those who died, 104 had been identified. There were still over 30 cases of people who were reported missing and still unaccounted for.
The police missing person’s enquiry hotline has received four reports of construction workers who were at Wang Fuk Court, Tsang added. Two of them have died, one is in hospital, and the remaining person is still missing.
Substandard netting
Mourners gathered throughout the weekend and into Monday, laying flowers at parks and podiums around the devastated 4,000-unit complex.
When the fire hit last Wednesday, the housing estate had been undergoing a large-scale revamp for over a year. The government announced on Saturday that it had suspended 30 other construction projects around the city – most were managed by the firm responsible for renovation work at the fire site.
Some construction netting samples taken from the site of the fatal Tai Po blaze have failed to meet fire safety standards, authorities said earlier on Monday.
“We believe it was the protective nets that did not meet fire resistance standards, and the Styrofoam boards, that caused the fire to spread so rapidly,” security chief Chris Tang told reporters.
Foam boards were used as part of protective materials, which authorities have pointed to as contributing to the fire’s rapid spread. Fire alarms were also faulty, authorities have said.
This Sunday’s election will reportedly proceed, with three days of official mourning set to end on Monday.
