Hongkong Apartment Fire Update
By wellington Jopelo
The confirmed death toll from the Hong Kong apartment complex fire rose to at least 151 on Monday. Officials said their investigation found that the mesh covering the scaffolding for renovation work did not meet fire-safety standards.
Public anger has grown as it becomes clearer that serious safety mistakes were made before the fire, which burned for more than two days and spread through seven of the complex’s eight towers. At the same time, the government has been trying to limit public criticism.
Early tests on the netting around the scaffolding showed it followed safety rules. But officials said that once investigators were able to reach more areas, including higher floors, they gathered more samples.
Hong Kong Chief Secretary Eric Chan said that seven out of 20 new samples of the synthetic mesh failed fire-safety tests. He suggested that the contractors may have chosen cheaper materials instead of protecting the safety of residents and workers.
Tsang Shuk-yin, who leads the Hong Kong police’s casualty inquiry unit, told reporters on Monday that recovery teams had discovered eight more bodies. These included three firefighters whose bodies had been found earlier but could not be recovered until now.
She said that over 30 people were still reported missing, though some of them are likely among the nearly 40 sets of remains that have been found but not yet identified.