The fire in the Wang Fuk Court development in the northern district of Tai Po started on Wednesday afternoon and rapidly engulfed seven of the eight 32-storey blocks in the complex

International News via Reuters:

Hong Kong authorities on Friday said rescue operations following a blaze that ripped through a high-rise apartment complex had concluded, with the death toll in the city’s worst fire in nearly 80 years now at 128 and 200 still missing.

The fire in the Wang Fuk Court development in the northern district of Tai Po started on Wednesday afternoon and rapidly engulfed seven of the eight 32-storey blocks in the complex.

“We do not rule out the possibility that more bodies could be discovered when police enter the building for detailed investigations,” Hong Kong Security Chief Chris Tang told a press conference.

Tang also said fire alarms in the complex had not been working properly.

COMPLEX CLAD IN BAMBOO SCAFFOLDING

Rescue efforts had now been concluded and at least 79 people, including 12 firefighters were injured, he said.

“Our aim now is to make sure the temperature decreases in the building and once everything is deemed safe, police will collect evidence and conduct further investigation,” Tang said.

The estate housing more than 4,600 people had been wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh for renovation work.

On Friday, mourners laid flower tributes in front of the charred and smouldering buildings, while distressed residents surveyed the remains of their homes.

“This is my home. Look over there, the 10th floor, that’s where my home was. By the hills, that’s where my home used to be,” one resident, identified only as Miss Yu, said.

“I really want to go back home, but my home is probably gone now. They won’t let us go back, so when I look in that direction, my heart feels so heavy.”

‘THERE IS NO HOPE,’ FRIEND SAYS

Families meanwhile had the grim task of looking at photographs of the dead taken by rescue workers. Security Chief Tang said only 39 of the 128 dead had been identified.

Mirra Wong, whose parents were living in Wang Fuk Court, was looking for news of her father.

“Just recognise some picture is maybe (the) body of my dad. It’s my dad’s body is still missing here,” said Wong, 48.

Another resident, who did not want to be identified, said a friend’s wife was among those unaccounted for.

“Rationally speaking, it means there’s no hope,” she said. “But the bodies still have to be found, right? Let me see if they’ve found them … It’s just too sorrowful. When it involves people you know, it’s even more painful.”

VOLUNTEERS DISTRIBUTE AID

Hundreds of volunteers have mobilised to help the victims, sorting and distributing items from diapers to hot food.

They formed teams to collect, transport and distribute goods in round-the-clock shifts and have set up a sprawling support camp for displaced residents beside a shopping mall across from the fire-damaged Wang Fuk complex.

“This is real civil participation,” said 22-year-old Helena who was coordinating volunteers, and gave only one name.

RESIDENTS CONCERNED ABOUT RENOVATION WORK

The fire is Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze, and has prompted comparisons to London’s Grenfell Tower inferno, which killed 72 people in 2017.

Residents of the housing complex were told by authorities last year that they faced “relatively low fire risks” after complaining repeatedly about fire hazards posed by ongoing renovation works, the city’s Labour Department told Reuters.

The residents had raised concerns over the renovations in September 2024, including about the potential flammability of the protective green mesh contractors had used to cover the bamboo scaffolding erected around the buildings, a department spokesperson said in an email.

Police on Thursday arrested two directors and an engineering consultant of Prestige Construction, a firm identified by the government as doing maintenance on Wang Fuk Court for more than a year on suspicion of manslaughter for using unsafe materials, including flammable foam boards blocking windows.

Prestige did not answer repeated calls for comment.

The city’s development bureau has discussed gradually replacing bamboo scaffolding with metal scaffolding as a safety measure.

DOMESTIC WORKERS AMONG THE MISSING

Dozens of domestic workers from the Philippines had been caught up in the disaster and 19 were still missing, said Edwina Antonio, executive director at migrant women refuge association Bethune House.

Indonesia’s consulate said two of the dead were its nationals also working as domestic helpers. Hong Kong has around 368,000 domestic workers, mostly women from low-income Asian countries who live with their employers.

Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, said the government would set up a HK$300 million ($39 million) fund to help residents while some of China’s biggest listed companies announced donations.

Hong Kong, one of the world’s most densely populated cities, is scattered with high-rise housing complexes. Its sky-high property prices have long been a trigger for discontent and analysts say the tragedy could stoke resentment towards authorities despite efforts to tighten political and national security control.

The leadership of both the Hong Kong government and China’s Communist Party moved quickly to show they attached utmost importance to a tragedy seen as a potential test of Beijing’s grip on the semi-autonomous region.     

($1=HK$7.7779)

Reporting by Mei Mei Chu, Joyce Zhou, Tyrone Siu, Jessie Pang, Anne Marie Roantree, Clare Jim, David Kirton, Greg Torode, Farah Master, James Pomfret, Artorn Pookasok, Yuddy Cahya Budiman in Hong Kong; Writing by Lincoln Feast, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Sharon Singleton; Editing by Stephen Coates, Kate Mayberry and Alison Williams

Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, who resigned as Anwar’s senior political secretary this week, was held after being questioned by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers

International News via Reuters:

Malaysia’s anti-graft agency on Friday detained a former senior aide to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for further investigation amid bribery allegations. 

Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, who resigned as Anwar’s senior political secretary this week, was held after being questioned by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers, Chief Commissioner Azam Baki said.

MACC will apply for a court order on Saturday to extend Shamsul Iskandar’s detention beyond 24 hours, Azam said in a statement. 

It will also apply to keep businessman Albert Tei, who says he has accused Shamsul Iskandar of bribery and was also questioned on Friday, in custody.

“I have instructed my officers to complete the investigation within this week so that it can be submitted to the attorney-general’s chambers for a swift decision,” Azam said, without specifying the possible charges or offences. 

Shamsul Iskandar, a senior member of Anwar’s People’s Justice Party, could not immediately be reached for comment. When resigning, he cited an attempt to attack him with allegations that could damage the government, and vowed to defend himself “against this attack”.

Tei’s lawyer Zaid Malek said he did not know what offence Tei was suspected of.

Reporting by Danial Azhar and Ashley Tang; Editing by Kevin Liffey

Hat Yai, a city with a population of size similar to Britain’s Oxford, received 335 mm (13 inches) of rain that day, for its highest single-day tally in 300 years, resulting in catastrophic floods

International News via Reuters:

When Jantarakarn Kaewjan went to bed in Thailand’s southern city of Hat Yai last Friday, three days of heavy rains had only caused some waterlogging in the street outside her apartment building.

But a little past midnight, the rising waters reached her building, forcing her to move her motorcycle from the parking lot to a higher floor.

“By 9 a.m., the water was chest deep,” said the 40-year-old gas station worker. “It was all caused by rain.”

Hat Yai, a city with a population of size similar to Britain’s Oxford, received 335 mm (13 inches) of rain that day, for its highest single-day tally in 300 years, resulting in catastrophic floods.

At least 145 people have died in floods that have swept nine southern provinces, 110 of those in Songkhla, the province whose capital is Hat Yai, authorities said on Friday.

Jantarakarn and two other residents told Reuters they had not received clear warnings from local authorities as the incessant rains swelled water levels, echoing wider complaints of government ineptitude in tackling the crisis.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s government has removed Hat Yai’s district chief and transferred its police chief since the disaster.

Narongporn Na Phatthalung, mayor of Hat Yai, which has a population of 243,778, said he initially misread the flood situation.

“I sincerely apologise to the people of Hat Yai,” he told the Channel 3 television station. “I admit that I made mistakes in managing this situation.”

PLAINS COULD NOT ABSORB INFLOW

Hat Yai and nearby areas received 630 mm (25 inches) of rain over three days last week, with water rolling down surrounding hills to flood densely-populated low-lying plains unable to absorb the inflow.

“This relentless influx of water overwhelmed the city’s waterways and drainage systems,” Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) said in a note, adding that the floods swelled quickly.

Now, receding waters have made a muddy mess of the city of low-rise buildings, lively street restaurants and shopping areas favoured by tourists from neighbouring Malaysia.

Lines of cars, parked in a bid to escape floodwaters, stood stalled on a wide street on Friday.

Bright blue drums spilled out of a warehouse in a commercial area, blocking a lane. Elsewhere, people cleared mud and debris from homes that had been inundated.

More than 16,000 people have been moved to 16 evacuation centres in the district of Hat Yai, authorities said, as the government approved funds of 4.75 billion baht ($148 million) to assist flood victims across the province.

SURVIVING ON RAINWATER

In previous years, announcements by local authorities warned people to evacuate ahead of possible floods, said 60-year-old Daeng, who gave only one name.

“But this time, nothing,” she said. “We didn’t know anything. We had to take care of ourselves.”

Floods ravaged her home, bringing down the second floor, swamping rooms and sweeping away the family’s television and even the water tank.

“We’ve lost everything,” she said.

The floods have damaged more than 33,000 homes in Hat Yai and its surroundings, along with five hospitals, 58 schools and over 700 km (435 miles) of roads, an initial GISTDA assessment showed.

Daeng and her family, though stranded in their home, had enough food to manage, but quickly ran out of water, said her relative Anusorn Niyomtham.

“By the third or fourth day, it wasn’t enough,” said Anusorn, 40. “We had to collect rainwater.” ($1=32.1500 baht)

Additional reporting by Orathai Sriring and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez