Death toll rises to 40 in highrise blaze, Hong Kong police say

lifelessly go off engulfs Hong Kong highrise

Hong Kong occupant 'devastated' while watching home burn in deadly highrise fire

Massive fire burns at Hong Kong residential complex

Emergency officials provide update on massive Hong Kong blaze

Hong Kong highrise fire leaves several dead, others trapped inside

Forty people are now confirmed dead and another 45 are in critical condition, Hong Kong officials told a news conference.

A fire official said they expect to keep fighting the apartment blaze “at least” until the evening.

Firefighters struggled to reach the upper floors of the housing complex due to intense heat as they worked through the night.

"The priority is to extinguish the fire and rescue the residents who are trapped," John Lee told reporters. "The second is to support the injured. The third is to support and recover. Then, we'll launch a thorough investigation."

The Hong Kong Observatory, a government weather service, has been warning of fire risk this week due to dry conditions. "The fire danger warning is Red and the fire risk is Extreme," reads a warning posted Monday that is still in effect.

Hong Kong resident 'devastated' while watching home burn in deadly highrise fire

Hong Kong resident Jason Kong looked on as flames ripped through the highrise complex where he lives on Wednesday. He said some of his neighbours were still unaccounted for and also feared for the fate of his 10-year-old poodle, Ber Ber, who he said remains in his apartment after police barred him from returning.

A 65-year-old man who lives in Block One of the apartment complex told Reuters he had to leave his dog behind when he fled the fire.

Jason Kong said he tried to go back inside to get his 10-year-old poodle, Ber Ber, at around 5 p.m. Local time because the fire hadn’t yet spread to his building, but police wouldn't let him.

"I do not know how my dog is doing upstairs now. I am afraid the smoke will suffocate him," he said.

"But now as I watch, the fire is not burning so strong at my apartment."

Kong said he is devastated for his friends and neighbours, especially those who haven't been able to find their loved ones.

"I know some are still inside the building. Why is there no one saving them? Are we waiting for them … how should we deal with this?"

Yuki Cheung says she is terrified and shocked that the fire is still burning in multiple buildings right now. Cheung, who currently lives in Vancouver, says she grew up in Wang Fuk Court and knows friends that still live there.

She says her high school teacher who lives in that housing estate lost contact with his wife since the fire broke out. "The latest news that I heard of is they're just stuck in the bathroom, in the bathtub. I'm just waiting for someone to rescue them. There's nothing they can do."

Wang Fuk Court is a housing estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong. There are eight residential buildings that are 31 stories high, with almost 2,000 units.

"They are all highrises. So a lot of seniors — like people who are in need, who are not that mobile — live there. I cannot imagine how they're going to evacuate from something like 30 storeys or more."

Hi, I’m Kevin Maimann, a senior writer with the national desk in Toronto.

Local news media is reporting that Hong Kong police have arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter in connection to the fire.

First responders deployed more than 140 fire trucks and more than 60 ambulances to the scene.

The dead included a 37-year-old firefighter, who has been identified as Ho Wai-ho.

Another firefighter received treatment for heat exhaustion, Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung said.

Lee said authorities are trying to understand what caused the fire.

“Police and the Fire Services Department have already set up a dedicated investigation team to investigate the cause of the fire,” Lee, the head of government for Hong Kong, said.

Officials said the fire started at the external scaffolding of one of the buildings, a 32-storey tower, and later spread to inside the building and then to nearby buildings, likely aided by windy conditions, according to The Associated Press.

Videos and images showing flames engulfing green mesh and bamboo scaffolding that connected and encased some of the buildings, which were under renovations, have prompted questions about Hong Kong's use of bamboo for construction materials.

In October, a fire in another Hong Kong building, the Chinachem Tower, appears to have spread because of similar scaffolding.

The special administration region of China is one of the last places to continue to use bamboo scaffolding — but said last spring it was reviewing the practice because of safety concerns.

According to the South China Morning Post, bamboo is used for scaffolding because it's lighter and cheaper than steel.

Lee said shortly after midnight that 29 people remained hospitalized.

He said the fire was "coming under control."

It is now past 1:30 a.m. Thursday in Hong Kong.

---

---