Bamboo Scaffolding - now 36 dead in huge Hong Kong high rise fire

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HONG KONG (AP) — A fire spread across seven high-rise apartment buildings in a Hong Kong housing complex, killing 13 people and leaving others still trapped, the city’s fire services said Wednesday.

Nine people were declared dead at the scene and four others who were sent to the hospital were later confirmed dead, authorities told reporters. At least 15 others were injured, and about 700 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters.

The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke as it spread quickly on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been set up around the exterior of the housing complex in Tai Po district, in the New Territories. Records show the housing complex consisted of eight blocks with almost 2,000 apartments housing about 4,800 people.

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Video from the scene showed multiple buildings close to each other ablaze, with bright flames and smoke shooting out of many of the apartments’ windows as night fell. Authorities said hundreds of firefighters, police officers and paramedics were deployed, and video showed firefighters aiming water at the intense flames from high up on ladder trucks.

The blaze started mid afternoon and after nightfall authorities upgraded it to a level 5 alarm, the highest level of severity, the Fire Services Department said. The fire was still raging late into the night, and authorities said conditions remained very challenging for firefighters.

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Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects, though the government said earlier this year that it would start phasing it out for public projects because of safety concerns.

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Authorities suspected some materials on the exterior walls of the high-rise buildings did not meet fire resistance standards, as the rapid spread of the fire was unusual.

Police also said they found Styrofoam materials -- that are highly flammable -- outside the windows on each floor near the lift lobby of the one unaffected tower, believed to be installed by a construction company. “We have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent,” said Eileen Chung, a senior superintendent of police. The three men arrested, aged 52 to 68, are the directors and an engineering consultant of the firm..

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