Hong Kong fires: 151 dead, authorities say they are cracking down on online "disinformation"

The blaze that broke out Wednesday afternoon in the Wang Fuk Court complex in Tai Po district is the deadliest building fire in the world since 1980, excluding fires in nightclubs, prisons or shopping malls, according to research in the disaster database of the University of Leuven in Belgium.

On Monday, police continued their search in the eight burned-out 31-story towers containing approximately 2.000 apartments, and made further discoveries in the apartments, hallways, and stairwells.

The number of confirmed deaths has risen from 146 to 151, a police official, Tsang Shuk-yin, told reporters.

The scale of the tragedy caused shock in the territory and prompted calls to identify those responsible.

Local media reported Saturday night that Miles Kwan, a 24-year-old student who, along with others, launched a petition demanding accountability for the worst fire the city had seen since 1948, had been arrested. The online petition, which had garnered over 10.000 signatures in less than a day, has been removed.

An AFP journalist saw Miles Kwan leave the Cheung Sha Wan district police station in a taxi on Monday, but was unable to obtain any comment from him about his situation.

The authorities signaled their intransigence on Monday. The territory's security chief, Chris Tang, questioned about Miles Kwan and other possible arrests, told the press that he had observed "inaccurate comments" published online in recent days.

"Some people with hidden motives are seeking to endanger Hong Kong's security and China's national security, and to take advantage of the suffering of the whole society to incite discontent against the government by practicing disinformation," he said.

"Therefore, we must take appropriate measures, including police measures," he added without elaborating.

Hong Kong, handed back to China by the United Kingdom in 1997, has seen Beijing tighten its control with a strict national security law passed in 2020 in response to pro-democracy protests.

Thirteen people, 12 men and one woman, have been arrested so far in the investigation into the fire, said Chan Tung, director of Hong Kong's criminal police and security.

The complex of approximately 2.000 housing units was undergoing renovation, but was still inhabited.

Attention has been focused on the possible use of flammable materials for renovation, such as nets protecting against dust and falling objects, and the use, common in Hong Kong, of bamboo for scaffolding.

A Hong Kong government official, Eric Chan, corroborated the suspicion about the conditions under which the construction project was carried out.

Samples of protective netting collected from seven locations and at different heights "did not meet fire resistance standards," he said.

China launches campaign against fire risks in skyscrapers

China has launched an "inspection and rectification" campaign against fire hazards in high-rise buildings, state broadcaster CCTV announced Saturday after the fire that killed at least 128 people in Hong Kong.

This campaign will focus in particular on exterior or interior renovation sites of buildings that are still occupied and the use of flammable materials in the work and bamboo for scaffolding, the channel indicated.

Flammable materials and bamboo are believed to have accelerated the spread of flames in Wednesday's Hong Kong tragedy.

The campaign will target "the use of prohibited materials and processes and equipment such as bamboo scaffolding or protective nets without flame retardant effect," according to CCTV.

It will also target unauthorized construction sites or those carried out without respecting procedures, the channel specified.