Hong Kong: No remains found after search of two fire-hit residential buildings, says police

Hong Kong, Nov 29 Hong Kong police said on Saturday that no remains were found after searching two of the seven fire-hit buildings in the residential complex of Wang Fuk Court.

So far, support funds for the fire have reached 1.1 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 141.3 million US dollars), among which 800 million Hong Kong dollars came from donations and 300 million Hong Kong dollars was government grants, Cheuk Wing-hing, Deputy Chief Secretary for administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said at a press conference on Saturday.

As of 3 pm local time Saturday, the fire had left 128 dead and 83 others injured, with 144 people previously listed as missing now confirmed safe, the Hong Kong police said, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Friday, the Hong Kong Police Force assured that it will conduct full evidence collection and investigation into the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po, which is expected to take three to four weeks.

"It is believed that the fire first broke out in the lower-level perimetre nets of Wang Cheong House, igniting foam boards and spreading rapidly to other buildings. This caused the glass to shatter, the fire to intensify sharply and spread indoors, resulting in a disaster with large-scale simultaneous ignition. High temperatures burned the bamboo scaffolding, and falling burning bamboo pieces set fire to other scaffolding nets," Chris Tang Ping-keung, Secretary for Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, told a press conference.

The Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said Friday that a special task force has also been set up to launch a full-scale investigation into suspected corruption tied to a major renovation project at fire-hit Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po.

The anti-graft body announced that it arrested eight individuals in sequence on the day.

The arrestees, aged between 40 and 63, are seven men and one woman. Among them are four individuals from the consulting firm of the grand renovation project of Wang Fuk Court, namely two Directors and two project managers responsible for supervising the project. Three others are scaffolding subcontractors, including a couple who are the proprietors of a company, while the remaining arrestee is a middleman.

Search warrants were executed by ICAC officers at 13 premises on Friday, including the offices of the consulting firm and the subcontractors, as well as the residences of the arrestees. Relevant works documents and bank records were seized.

The investigation is ongoing and all arrestees are being detained by the ICAC for further enquiries.

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