Posted on 11/27/2025 3:47:21 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
HONG KONG (AP) — Firefighters battled a blaze at a high-rise residential complex in Hong Kong for the second day on Thursday, as the death toll rose to 55 in one of the deadliest blazes in the city’s modern history.
Thick smoke continued to pour out of the Wang Fuk Court complex, a dense cluster of high-rise towers housing thousands of people in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near the border with the mainland. Flames can still be seen inside the buildings Thursday evening.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said contact had been lost with 279 people around midnight Thursday. Rescues were continuing in some of the towers, but authorities did not provide updates on the missing people or how many were still trapped inside the ravaged buildings Thursday during a press conference.
Firefighters have been trying to control the flames since midafternoon Wednesday, when the fire started in bamboo scaffolding and construction netting and then spread across seven of the complex’s eight buildings. Fires in four buildings had been effectively put out, with the remaining three towers under control, authorities said Thursday afternoon.
Fifty-one people were found dead on the scene, Hong Kong authorities said, and four others died in the hospital. One firefighter was among the dead.
More than 70 people were injured, according to the city’s Hospital Authority, many suffering from burn and inhalation injuries. About 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters overnight.
Resident Lawrence Lee was waiting for news about his wife, who he believed was still trapped in their apartment.
“When the fire started, I told her on the phone to escape. But once she left the flat, the corridor and stairs were all filled with smoke and it was all dark, so she had no choice but to go...”
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Things that make you go “Hmmmmm….” (hand on chin eyes looking up in deep thought)
This is a Government Housing project that was being painted. It is about 35 years old. Because it is a residential building it was not required to have sprinklers.
We used to live near there. I rode past it every day on the way to work
You can't make this stuff up …
If it can be shown that the netting was flammable the contractor is in deep trouble.
The bamboo scaffolding is common throughout Asia.
Residential buildings are NOT required to have sprinklers installed? That seems like an accepted custom of building that has always been dangerous, but never at this present scale of endangered lives.
Not even in hallways and public spaces. Commercial buildings yes, but not residential.
‘Lost contact’ could be that chinese firewall
As in censorship wall
London fire was fridge with that propane based coolant
I think if I ran across the name I would have rented a room.
Luckily this is the first time I’ve read of it.
;-)
Bamboo scaffolding takes a LOT to get it to catch on fire. I think other materials were a fault for this very unfortunate tragedy.
Life imitates art.
“The Towering Inferno.”
The building was completed in 1980...
“The Empire State Building was retrofitted with a full sprinkler system, and the installation was completed around 2013. Although not originally included, the building was fully sprinklered to meet modern fire safety codes.”
I worked in a high-rise hospital that was adding a sprinkler system, one floor a year...
Might be completed by now?
London fire was fridge with that propane based coolant
++++++++++
The exterior of the London building was updated, during a renovation, with a sub-standard material that was not fireproof. This material allowed the fire to spread extremely fast through the exterior frame of the building. Major deadly mistake. I believe other buildings were also “renovated” with this same material that obviously needed to be removed.
Really, exactly what law in Hong Kong would he have broken, what building code in Hong Kong? I bet hat whatever they used was in common use.
Is what happens when you use flammable styrofoam as concrete filler. Chinese construction is based on the highest bidder that can pay the local Party official the highest bribe, while recouping costs by using the cheapest materials possible.
The green netting is not supposed to be flammable, it looks like it was. According to TVB HK, they were also placing Styrofoam in front of some windows to guard against broken glass. That wasn’t illegal, but turned out to be a bad idea as it caught fire and set things like curtains on fire. Also at this time of year in HK people would have windows open as the weather is pleasant.
“Lost contact’ could be that chinese firewall
As in censorship wall”
_________
Does not apply in HK. And if just personal cellphone contact would not apply in China. The PRC places a lot of emphasis on public safety. It is a very safe country in a lot of ways.
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