In an escalation of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire investigation in decades, authorities have arrested 13 people on suspicion of manslaughter as the official death toll climbed to a staggering 151—a grim milestone reached as police continue to find bodies in the ashes of seven burnt-out towers.
The expanding probe points to a cascade of criminal negligence, with officials revealing that contractors used substandard, flammable materials and deliberately hid them in hard-to-reach areas, while fire alarms throughout the Wang Fuk Court complex failed catastrophically. “Some of the bodies have turned into ash,” a police official told reporters, choking with emotion as authorities warned they might not be able to locate all of the more than 40 people still missing.
The investigation is unfolding against a backdrop of intense public grief and political tension. As thousands of mourners formed lines over a kilometer long to pay tribute to the victims, Beijing’s national security office issued a chilling warning against “anti-China disruptors” attempting to exploit the tragedy, signaling a crackdown on any independent calls for a probe into the systemic failures that led to this preventable catastrophe.
