At least 36 dead, a number expected to rise given the 279 missing, and a fire alarm that never sounded . This is the dramatic image of the inferno that has devoured the public housing blocks of the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Hong Kong's Tai Po district . Rescue workers are forced to advance with great difficulty amid "extremely high" temperatures and insufficient equipment, according to many residents, to tackle a blaze of this scale.
The fire, which broke out early Wednesday afternoon, apparently originated in bamboo scaffolding erected on buildings undergoing renovation, a common structure in the country. The flames quickly spread inside and then to the other towers in the complex: nearly 2,000 apartments, housing more than 4,600 residents , many of them elderly. Black smoke continued to rise from seven of the eight skyscrapers as night fell over the city.
The confirmed death toll is at least 36, while the number of injured had reached 29 by midnight, 7 of whom are in critical condition, as reported by Hong Kong Governor John Lee, who also spoke of 279 people who could not be contacted.
The already dramatic toll is obviously provisional: Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of the fire department, said that the heat inside the towers prevented crews from climbing to the upper floors. "We are unable to reach the trapped people, but we will continue to try," he assured, quoted by CNN.
Fire Department Director Andy Yeung Yan-kin later revealed that officials found Styrofoam inside the burning buildings, which had caused the fire to spread faster than normal. More than 800 firefighters and paramedics, 400 police officers, 140 fire engines, and 57 ambulances rushed to the scene.
Yet, on the ground, many residents questioned why more equipment wasn't being used and why firefighting helicopters hadn't been deployed. The area was completely cordoned off, and thousands of onlookers watched the flames from behind security lines, while more than 900 people found shelter in the eight emergency shelters opened by the district. Among the victims of the blaze may also be over 100 pets: several animal rights organizations are on site with dedicated ambulances to transport survivors to veterinary clinics.
Much controversy surrounds the failure of the fire alarms: "If someone was sleeping, they were done for," said Chan Kwong-tak, 83, explaining that the tenants would have been alerted only by the guards knocking on every door.
Our thoughts turn to Grenfell Tower, the 24-story building in London's North Kensington neighborhood where, on the night between June 13 and 14, 2017, flames killed 72 people, including Gloria Trevisan and Marco Gottardi, two young Italian architects.
(Unioneonline)