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What we know so far By Lachlan Abbott Thank you for following our live coverage of this deadly Hong Kong apartment fire. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage.
To conclude, here’s a look back at what we know about this tragedy so far:
At least 55 people died after a fire at an apartment complex in Hong Kong’s north. Seven of eight high-rises at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate were engulfed in flames. Fires in four buildings were extinguished, while blazes in three other towers were under control after they started more than a day ago. Hong Kong officials previously said 279 people were unaccounted for, but it is not clear how many remain missing. A man, who said his wife was trapped inside one of the buildings, is pictured amid the catastrophe. Credit: Reuters
Police arrested three people from an engineering firm on suspicion of manslaughter. Investigators were still determining what sparked the blaze, but were examining whether bamboo scaffolding and green construction mesh wrapped around parts of the buildings helped the flames spread. China’s President Xi Jinping asked local governments to aid Hong Kong in the rescue mission, and expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and injured. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it did not believe any Australians were caught in the fire – the deadliest on the densely populated peninsula in more than seven decades. Latest posts
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Spread of fire across multiple buildings ‘quite shocking’, says Australian safety expert By Tom Housden As the investigation into the fire gets under way, an Australian fire safety expert has described the manner in which the blaze spread from building to building as “quite shocking”, as regulations in general require buildings to be spaced apart to keep fires from spreading in such a way.
“Typically, they don’t spread beyond the b
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