The devastating fire that ravaged the residential complex Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong has already left 151 dead and thirteen people arrested for alleged negligent homicide, amid a joint criminal investigation by the Hong Kong Police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption that points to serious irregularities in the exterior rehabilitation works.
The death toll thus increased by five people compared to the previous count, announced this Sunday.
Those arrested are linked to the project’s main contractor, structural engineering consultants, subcontractors specializing in bamboo scaffolding, and companies in charge of facade renovation.
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The investigations remain open and further arrests are not ruled out, according to official sources.
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The deputy chief executive, Eric Chan, announced this Monday at a press conference the constitution of an inter-institutional team that coordinates the criminal investigation into the lethal fire.
In the last few hours, police experts extracted twenty samples of perimeter containment mesh from different levels of the damaged towers. Seven of these samples, taken from four blocks, do not meet the minimum flame retardancy indices required by local regulations.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang detailed that indications reveal a fraudulent substitution following the structural damage caused by Super Typhoon Ragasa, recorded in the former British colony last July.
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The people responsible would have acquired large quantities of synthetic netting not classified as fire-retardant and, to bypass controls, placed approved material only in easily accessible areas – baseboards and scaffolding feet – reserving the non-flame-resistant netting for the upper surfaces, only verifiable by firefighters’ height equipment.
The Criminal Investigation Unit of the Fire Department has examined construction plans, supply notes, and physical remains of the auxiliary structures.
At the same time, a technical team from the Housing Bureau is testing the thermal insulation panels of facades and is tracking whether the supplier involved distributed similar batches in other comprehensive rehabilitation contracts in the special administrative region, according to local media.
The fire, which started on Wednesday afternoon and was declared extinguished in the early hours of Friday, spread with extreme speed to seven of the eight towers of the residential complex, designed for about 4,600 inhabitants.
The provisional balance accounts for 151 corpses, nearly a hundred missing persons, and 79 injured of various degrees.
To date, 683 affected people have been rehoused in hotel establishments, 1,144 occupy temporary housing modules, and two emergency shelters keep their doors open.
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In the vicinity of the ruins, a spontaneous commemorative tribute accumulates floral offerings and messages of mourning, while citizen demands intensify to clarify possible political responsibilities in the oversight of the exterior renovation work.
