Fire services chief Andy Yeung said they had discovered that alarm systems in all eight blocks “were malfunctioning”, and that they would take action against the contractors.
“We have been visiting the scene every day,” said a man surnamed Fung who was looking for his 80-year-old mother-in-law.
“She is on antibiotics… so she is always sleeping. There was no fire alarm so she might not have known there was a fire,” he said.
The city’s anti-corruption watchdog said it had arrested eight people on Friday in connection with the fire, including “consultants, scaffolding subcontractors and [a] middleman of the project”.
On Thursday, the body had launched a probe into the renovation project, hours after police said they had arrested three men on suspicion of negligently leaving foam packaging at the fire site.
‘Cannot find them’
The blaze was “largely extinguished” by Friday morning after burning for more than 40 hours, the fire services said, announcing they had finished their search of more than 1800 flats for survivors.
Workers brought out bodies in black bags, with an AFP reporter counting four in one 15-minute period.
“We do not rule out the possibility that police will find more charred remains when entering [the building] for detailed investigation and evidence collection,” Hong Kong’s security chief Chris Tang told a press conference.
Vehicles unloaded corpses at a mortuary in nearby Sha Tin, another reporter saw, with families arriving in the afternoon for identification.
At one hospital in Sha Tin, a woman surnamed Wong was looking for her sister-in-law and her sister-in-law’s twin, with no luck.
“We still cannot find them. So we are going to different hospitals to ask if they have good news,” the 38-year-old told AFP in tears.
The last contact anyone had with the twins was on Wednesday afternoon, said Wong, around the time the fire was reported.
The Government said police have activated a specialist disaster victim identification system to help with locating the missing.
On Friday, dozens were still in hospital, with 11 in critical condition, and 21 listed as “serious”.
“One building went up in flames and it spread to two more blocks in less than 15 minutes,” a 77-year-old witness surnamed Mui told AFP.
“It was burning red, I shudder to think about it.”
Investigations begin
The blaze was Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948, when an explosion followed by a fire killed at least 135 people.
Lethal fires were once a regular scourge in densely populated Hong Kong, especially in poorer neighbourhoods, but improved safety measures have made them far less common.
Security chief Tang said the full investigation into the fire’s causes could take up to four weeks.
Hong Kong authorities said they will immediately inspect all housing estates undergoing major work following the disaster, and will look into shifting construction sites to metal scaffolding in the longer term.
They have announced a HK$300 million fund to help victims of the fire.
Authorities had found temporary accommodation for around 800 people, the Government said on Friday.
Nine emergency shelters were also in operation, accommodating around 720 people overnight.
A spontaneous community effort to help firefighters and those displaced had become a well-oiled machine by Friday.
Separate supply stations for clothes, food and household goods had been set up at a public square near the towers, as well as booths providing medical and psychological care.
So much was donated that organisers put out a call on social media saying no more was needed.
– Agence France-Presse
