Hong Kong fire kills 44, hundreds missing as police blame 'gross negligence'

A huge fire still burning in a Hong Kong apartment complex that has killed at least 44 people and left nearly 300 missing may have been caused by a "grossly negligent" construction firm using unsafe materials, police said on Thursday.

Almost a full day after the fire began, firefighters were struggling to reach residents potentially trapped on the upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex due to intense heat and thick smoke from the fire that erupted on Wednesday afternoon.

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.

Three men from the construction company, two directors and one engineering consultant, had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the fire, she added. Police officers searched the housing estate's building maintenance company on Thursday morning, seizing documents that mention of Wang Fuk Court, local media reported. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The tightly packed complex in the northern Tai Po district has 2,000 apartments in eight blocks that are home to more than 4,600 people in a city struggling with chronic shortages of affordable housing.

By Thursday morning, authorities said they had brought the fire in four of seven blocks under control, with operations continuing in three blocks. Video from the scene some 22 hours after the blaze started showed flames still leaping from at least two of the 32-storey towers sheathed in green construction mesh and bamboo scaffolding.

The bamboo scaffolding is a mainstay of traditional Chinese architecture but has been subject to a phase-out in Hong Kong since March for safety reasons.

A firefighter was among the 44 killed, with 45 people in hospital in critical condition, Hong Kong police told a press conference before dawn on Thursday.

"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."

Some 279 people were uncontactable and 900 were in eight shelters, he added.

An online app showed missing persons reports submitted through a linked Google document that detailed residents of individual towers and rooms.

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.

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.