Flames and thick black smoke rose from the thirty two storey towers that were covered in bamboo scaffolding and green construction mesh. The use of bamboo scaffolding has been under a government phase out plan since March due to safety concerns. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Fire authorities said they faced extreme difficulty reaching the upper floors because of intense heat. They added that efforts to control the blaze became more challenging after nightfall.
The fire broke out in the Wang Fuk Court housing complex which contains two thousand residential units spread across eight blocks. Officials said they did not yet know how many people might still be inside the buildings.
Dozens of distressed residents watched from nearby walkways as smoke poured out of the towers. A seventy one year old resident named Wong said his wife was trapped inside one of the blocks. A firefighter was among the fourteen people who lost their lives while more than sixteen others sustained injuries.
Fire Services officials said the first report was received at two fifty one in the afternoon. By six twenty two in the evening the fire had been raised to a number five alarm which is the highest level in Hong Kong. Strong winds pushed the flames rapidly and the fire spread to seven of the eight blocks.
Residents described the moment the fire began. Harry Cheung who has lived in Block Two for more than forty years said he heard a loud noise shortly before three in the afternoon and then saw flames rising from a nearby tower. He said he quickly packed his belongings and did not know where he would sleep for the night.
Scaffolding frames were seen falling to the ground as firefighters worked to control the blaze. Numerous fire engines and ambulances lined the roads leading to the complex.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee convened an emergency meeting on Wednesday evening. The government issued a statement saying all departments were assisting residents with safety as the top priority. China’s President Xi Jinping called for an all out effort to extinguish the fire and minimise casualties.
The city’s Transport Department closed a section of Tai Po Road which is one of Hong Kong’s two major highways. Bus routes were diverted due to the fire and heavy smoke. The Education Bureau announced that at least six schools would remain closed on Thursday.
This incident is the worst fire in Hong Kong since nineteen ninety six when forty one people died in a commercial building in Kowloon. That fire was caused by welding work during renovations and led to major reforms in fire safety rules for high rise buildings.
Hong Kong continues to be one of the few places where bamboo scaffolding is used widely in construction work. The government has begun replacing bamboo with metal frames across public sector projects with a target of fifty percent conversion.
Wang Fuk Court is located in the busy suburban district of Tai Po which has about three hundred thousand residents. The complex has been occupied since nineteen eighty three under the government’s subsidised home ownership scheme. It has been undergoing renovation work costing more than three hundred million Hong Kong dollars with each unit paying a significant portion of the cost.
Housing remains a major challenge in Hong Kong where buying a home is out of reach for many people and rental prices continue to approach record levels.
