Multiple Arrests Made in Connection with Deadly Hong Kongโ Tower Fire
HONG KONG – Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested eight individuals – seven men and one woman ranging in age from 40 too 63 – in connection with Wednesday’s devastating fire at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex,โ which has claimed 128 lives with approximately 200 people stillโข missing. The arrests, conducted throughout โFriday, center around alleged negligence and potential โwrongdoing related to the building’s recent renovation.
The anti-corruption body initially โคarrested two directors of Will Power Architects, โthe architecture firm consulting on the โrenovation project, on Friday โขmorning. Subsequent arrests included six additional individuals: two project managers from Will power Architects, aโ couple owning a subcontracted scaffolding company, and an โคintermediary. Authorities searched the officesโ ofโ Will โPower Architects asโข part of theโค investigation.
This brings the total number of people detained to five, following Thursday’sโ arrests of three senior managers from Prestige Construction & Engineering – Hau Wa-kin, Ho Kin-yip, โand Steve โwong Chung-kee – all charged with serious reckless homicide. Prestige Construction & Engineering was responsible โคfor โtheโ rehabilitation work and has a history ofโ workplace safety violations, according to investigators.
Theโ fire originated in โฃtower 8 of the Wang Fuk Court complex,comprised of eight 31-story blocks built in 1984 and housing roughly 4,600 residents,many โขof whom โขare elderly. Theโ blaze rapidly spread โto six other buildings, fueled byโค highly flammable expanded polystyrene โsheets installed in elevator shafts โand exterior mesh networksโค lacking fire resistance, preliminary reports โคindicate.
A special team has also โคbeen established to investigate potential irregularities in the awarding of the $42 millionโ (36.5 millionโฃ euro) renovation contract, which Prestige won from a pool of โค57 competing companies โin 2023.
In response to the โtragedy – one of the worst in Hong Kong’s recent history – chief โExecutive โฃJohn Lee has ordered urgent โreviews of โall public housing complexes undergoingโ major rehabilitation work.
