Deadly fire in Hong Kong high-rise kills at least 83 people

The death toll continues to rise Thursday, after one of the deadliest fires in the history of the City of Hong Kong continues to burn.

At least 83 people have been confirmed dead including at least one firefighter and its unclear how many hundreds more remain missing or trapped inside.

The fire quickly spread from a spot on the ground floor, rushing up 32 storeys in just five minutes.

Spreading to seven of the eight towers in the public housing development — the home of more than 4,000 people.

Firefighters responded en masse when the fire broke out at around 3 p.m., local time Wednesday, but the speed of the flames meant much of the complex was devastated.

Authorities say the fire climbed the bamboo construction scaffolding and they suspect nets, tarps and plastic sheets, used in the maintenance work, may not have been up to fire safety standards.

The people who lived there could only watch as their homes burned.

“We bought this apartment more than twenty years ago,” said Mrs. Wan, a resident of the building. “All of our belongings were in this apartment, and now that it has all burned like this, what’s left? There’s nothing left. What are we supposed to do?”

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Fire crews worked through the night trying to get the flames under control, while rescuers went from apartment to apartment looking for the hundreds of missing people.

Residents who lived on the higher floors were trapped, while officials said high temperatures, collapsed scaffolding and constrained spaces were hindering efforts.

By early Friday local time — which was about mid-afternoon Thursday in Ontario — officials said the firefighting operation was almost complete.

“What’s next is the search and rescue operation,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, the deputy director of Hong Kong Fire Services. “We will endeavour to effect forcible entry to all the units of the seven blocks concerned, so as to ensure that there are no other possible casualties.”

Hong Kong police say they have arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter — who work at Prestige Construction, the company doing the maintenance work on the buildings.

Officers raided the company and seized documents and three cell phones.

In an email to CHCH News, Global Affairs Canada said it is not aware of any Canadians affected by the fire.

Global Affairs estimates there are about 300,000 Canadian citizens in Hong Kong, making them the biggest Canadian Diaspora outside the United States.

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