Six people arrested on suspicion of deactivating fire alarms at Hong Kong fire apartment complex
Investigators are continuing to probe what caused the Wang Fuk Court fire. (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)
In short:
Six people have been arrested on suspicion of deactivating fire alarms at the site of a deadly blaze in Hong Kong last week.
Police have arrested 15 people on manslaughter charges, while Hong Kong's anti-corruption body has arrested 12 people.
The death toll from the disaster has risen to 159, with some 30 others still missing.
Authorities have arrested six people on suspicion of deactivating fire alarms during renovation works at the site of Hong Kong's deadly high-rise blaze last week, as the death toll rose to 159 people.
Police said the youngest person who died in the fire was a 1-year-old infant, while the oldest was 97.
Emergency services have completed a search for bodies inside all seven of eight high-rise residential towers ravaged in the fire that first broke out last Wednesday.
Some 30 people are still missing.
Police in Hong Kong said further testing would be required to identify some of the deceased. (Supplied: Hong Kong Police)
Police continue to scour the seven burnt-out buildings.
"We have not finished our work yet," Commissioner of Police Joe Chow told reporters, adding that officials found suspected human bones in different apartments and would attempt DNA testing on the remains to identify them.
Officials will also continue to search through piles of fallen bamboo scaffolding to check if any remains or bodies were buried there, he said.
The search may take weeks due to the hazardous conditions and difficulty collecting bodies, some of which have been found on rooftops and in stairwells, authorities have said.
The deadly blaze broke out at Wang Fuk Court, which was undergoing renovation in the northern suburban district of Tai Po.
Substandard plastic nylon netting covering scaffoldings erected outside the towers and foam boards installed on windows were found to have aided the fire's rapid spread, authorities said earlier this week.
Officials said the city would remove all external scaffolding nets from ongoing renovations.
The materials will need to be tested before they are allowed to be installed again.
Local media reports have suggested that at least 300 buildings will be affected by the order.
Wang Chi House was the only building in the complex that was not burned in the disaster. (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)
In addition to the scaffolding issue, residents and officials have said that some fire alarms in the buildings failed to sound when the fire broke out, though it was not clear how widespread that problem was within the complex.
Police said on Wednesday that six people who allegedly deactivated some fire alarms at the housing complex during the renovation works were arrested on suspicion of making false representations to the fire services department.
On Tuesday, police said 15 people had been arrested for suspected manslaughter in a criminal investigation into last week's disaster. Hong Kong's anti-corruption body has also arrested 12 people in a probe into possible graft.
It is unclear if any of those people were arrested on both counts.
The initial cause of the fire was still under investigation.
Nineteen bodies among the 159 were still unidentified, police said.
Ten migrants who worked as domestic helpers at the housing complex, including nine from Indonesia and one from the Philippines, as well as one firefighter, were among those killed in the fire.
Locals recall horror of fire
A married couple, surnamed Leung, whose home of 40 years was destroyed by the fire, told Reuters they rushed to the site after being alerted to the fire by their daughter.
"It all happened within just an hour or two. I stood there watching as one block after another went up in flames — my legs felt so weak I could hardly stand," Mrs Leung said, choking up with tears.
"When I saw it, I felt completely helpless. I still don't understand how the fire could spread so fiercely, devouring one building after another."
Images and sounds of the catastrophe still haunt Leung one week after the disaster.
"It was terrifying," she said.
"The bamboo scaffolding cracked and there was banging that sounded like exploding windows — the flames were completely out of control.
"I was supposed to live out my later years there peacefully, spending free time with my husband walking along the waterfront park near our home. Those moments are all just memories now."
All surviving residents of the Wang Fuk Court complex have been displaced.
Many are now in temporary housing.
On Wednesday, residents of the only block in the complex not destroyed by the 40-hour inferno were escorted to their homes by officials.
They were given 90 minutes to gather belongings.
Authorities have not said when those who live in the unaffected building can return.
"My whole life is there," said a 60-year-old woman surnamed Lam, who was waiting with recyclable bags for her daughter, before going into her apartment.
ABC/wires