58 Pinoys accounted for after HK inferno

Fifty-eight Filipinos residing in the high-rise residential buildings in Tai Po district that were razed by fire were accounted for and are in safe condition. One domestic worker, however, is still missing while another is confined in a hospital, the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong said on Friday.

The consulate is still verifying the status and whereabouts of 91 other Filipinos living at Wang Fuk Court, saying that some “may have changed employers, moved to a different area, or returned to the Philippines prior to the fire incident.”

Those with information on the affected Filipinos may reach the consulate at 9155-4023 (consular assistance), 5529-1880 (Migrant Workers Office), or 6345-9324 (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration).

The blaze, Hong Kong’s deadliest in decades, has killed 129 people — 89 of whom are yet unidentified — with around 200 others missing.

The fire started in one building at the complex on Wednesday, then spread rapidly to six other towers.

Flames moved quickly through the housing estate on Wednesday afternoon, spreading through seven of the eight high-rises and transforming the densely packed complex into towering infernos.

The blaze was “largely extinguished” by Friday morning after burning for more than 40 hours, the fire services said, announcing that they had finished their search of over 1,800 flats for survivors.

The Hong Kong government said it appeared the fire started in the protective netting on the lower floors of one of the towers and that foam boards and the bamboo scaffolding contributed to its spread.

Fire services chief Andy Yeung said they had discovered that alarm systems in all eight blocks “were malfunctioning.”

Contractors probed

“We will take enforcement actions against the contractors responsible,” Yeung told a press conference.

Residents had recounted having to run door-to-door to alert neighbors to the fire.

At the charred apartment blocks on Friday morning, workers brought out bodies in black bags, with an AFP reporter counting four in one 15-minute period.

Vehicles unloaded corpses at a mortuary in nearby Sha Tin, another reporter said, with families arriving in the afternoon to identify their kin.

At one hospital in Sha Tin, a woman surnamed Wong was looking for her sister-in-law and her sister-in-law’s twin, without success.

“We still cannot find them. So we are going to different hospitals to ask if they have good news,” the 38-year-old told AFP in tears.

“One building went up in flames and it spread to two more blocks in less than 15 minutes,” a 77-year-old eyewitness surnamed Mui said.