Hong Kong presses on with search for 31 still missing after city’s deadliest fire in decades

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - Hong Kong search teams kept looking Wednesday in a second round of operations for 31 people still missing after a fire swept through a residential complex and killed 159.

Seventy-nine people sustained injuries, including 12 firefighters, due to the fire, according to the South China Morning Post.

An independent committee led by a judge will also conduct a probe into the deadly fire.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said a Legislative Council election would go ahead on Sunday as scheduled, despite earlier speculation that it could be postponed due to the fire.

Hong Kong saw the worst fire in decades last week on Wednesday in Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court area, which continued for 43 hours, engulfing seven residential blocks, including more than 1,900 apartments.

Hong Kong authorities said highly flammable styrofoam and substandard mesh caused the fire to spread rapidly.

Authorities have ordered 300 Hong Kong buildings to remove their scaffolding mesh by Saturday.

The complex consists of eight towers with an estimated population of over 4,000 residents.

So far, authorities have arrested 21 people, including the main contractor, an engineering consultant, and a subcontractor from the scaffolding company.