Hong Kong searches for 31 missing after deadly residential fire

Search and rescue operations persisted in Hong Kong on Wednesday for 31 individuals still unaccounted for after last week's devastating blaze, the city's deadliest fire in decades. The inferno at the Wang Fuk Court complex in Tai Po has claimed 159 lives and left 79 injured, including a dozen firefighters, according to the South China Morning Post.

Independent Probe and Election to Proceed

In response to the tragedy, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced the formation of an independent committee, to be led by a judge, to investigate the fire's cause. Lee also confirmed that the Legislative Council election scheduled for this Sunday will proceed as planned, dispelling earlier speculation about a potential postponement due to the disaster.

Flammable Materials and Widespread Arrests

Preliminary findings from Hong Kong authorities indicate that highly flammable styrofoam and substandard construction mesh contributed to the fire's rapid spread across seven residential blocks, which contain over 1,900 apartments. In a swift regulatory reaction, officials have ordered some 300 buildings across the city to remove similar scaffolding netting by Saturday. The legal response has been equally rapid, with 21 arrests made so far, including the main contractor, an engineering consultant, and a subcontractor.

Scale of the Disaster and Ongoing Response

The fire, which burned for approximately 43 hours, engulfed a densely populated complex of eight towers housing an estimated 4,000 residents. The scale of the loss has shocked the city, prompting a massive emergency response and raising urgent questions about construction safety standards and regulatory enforcement in Hong Kong's dense urban environment.