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 65 in one of the deadliest blazes in the city's modern history.
Thick smoke continued to pour out of some apartments in the Wang Fuk Court complex, a dense cluster of high-rise towers housing thousands of people in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near Hong Kong's border with the mainland.
Flames could still be seen inside the buildings Thursday evening.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said contact had been lost with 279 people earlier Thursday.
Fires in four buildings had been effectively put out, with the remaining three towers under control, authorities said Thursday afternoon.
One firefighter was among the dead, and 70 people were injured, authorities said. 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.
Rescues were continuing in some of the towers, but authorities did not provide updates on the missing 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.
“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 back to the flat,” he said, as he waited in one of the shelters overnight.
Winter and Sandy Chung, who lived in one of the towers, said they saw sparks fly around as they evacuated Wednesday afternoon. Although they were safe, they were worried about their home. “I couldn't sleep the entire night,” Winter Chung, 75, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Police said in addition to the buildings being covered with protective mesh sheets and plastic that may not meet fire standards, they discovered some windows on one unaffected building were sealed with a foam material, installed by a construction company carrying out year-long maintenance work.
"We have reason to believe that the company’s responsible parties were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties," said Eileen Chung, a Hong Kong police superintendent.
"The priority is to extinguish the fire and rescue the residents who are trapped," Hong Kong leader 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 death toll is now the highest in a Hong Kong fire since 1948, when 176 people were killed in a warehouse blaze.
Searching for relatives
The latest fire has prompted comparisons to the Grenfell Tower inferno that killed 72 people in London in 2017. That fire was blamed on firms fitting the exterior with flammable cladding, as well as failings by the government and the construction industry.
"Our hearts go out to all those affected by the horrific fire in Hong Kong," the Grenfell United survivors' group said on social media. "To the families, friends and communities, we stand with you. You are not alone."
Harry Cheung, 66, who has lived at Block Two in one of the complexes for more than 40 years, said he heard a loud noise about 2:45 p.m. (0645 GMT) and saw fire erupt in a nearby block.
"I immediately went back to pack up my things," he said. "I don't even know how I feel right now. I'm just thinking about where I'm going to sleep tonight."
A woman surnamed Ng, 52, was distraught as she looked for her daughter outside a shelter.
"She and her father are still not out yet. They didn’t have water to save our building," she sobbed, carrying her daughter's graduation photo.
Another long-time resident, a woman surnamed Chu, said she still had not been able to contact her friends who live in the next block. After staying over at a friend's place on Wednesday night, the 70-year-old came back to see her home still burning.
"We don't know what to do," she said.
An online app showed missing persons reports submitted through a linked Google document that detailed residents of individual towers and rooms.
It includes descriptions like "Mother-in-law in her 70s, missing" or "one boy and one girl" or "Rooftop: 33-year-old male."
One description simply says "27th floor, room 1: He is dead." Reuters could not independently verify the information on the app.
China's Xi urges 'all-out' effort against fire
Many residents took to social media to criticise what they saw as negligence and cost cutting as a cause of the fire. One video showed several construction workers smoking on the bamboo scaffolding surrounding one of the complex's blocks during the renovation process.
From the mainland, China's President Xi Jinping urged an "all-out effort" to extinguish the fire and to minimise casualties and losses, China's state broadcaster CCTV said.
Hong Kong's Transport Department said that a number of roads would remain closed in the area on Thursday morning and 39 bus routes have been diverted, while nearby schools have been closed.
Hong Kong's government start phasing out bamboo scaffolding in March, citing worker safety after 22 deaths involving bamboo scaffolders between 2019 and 2024. It announced that 50% of public construction works would be required to use metal frames instead.
Hong Kong's sky-high property prices have long been a trigger for social discontent in the city and the fire tragedy could further stoke resentment towards authorities ahead of a city-wide legislative election in early December.
Wang Fuk Court is one of many high-rise housing complexes in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Tai Po, located near the border with mainland China, is an established suburban district with some 300,000 residents.
Occupied since 1983, the complex is under the government's subsidised home ownership scheme, according to property agency websites. According to online posts, it has been undergoing renovations for a year at a cost of HK$330 million ($42.43 million), with each unit paying between HK$160,000 and HK$180,000.