Hong Kong arrests 8 after deadly tower blaze that left 128 dead

Hong Kong's anti-corruption agency has arrested 8 people over an apartment tower complex fire as the death toll rises to 128. 

The agency said on Friday it arrested eight people connected to the renovation of the high-rise apartments that were engulfed in a massive fire on Wednesday, tearing through seven of the eight high-rise blocks of the almost 2,000-unit estate.

The group of seven men and one woman include "consultants, scaffolding subcontractors and middlemen of the project," said the financial hub's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

The ICAC added that those arrested were aged between 40 and 63 and included "four individuals from the consulting firm of the grand renovation project of Wang Fuk Court, namely two directors and two project managers responsible for supervising the project."

The other members of the group arrested included three scaffolding subcontractors and a middleman.

The ICAC, an independent statutory body, did not provide details of their alleged crimes.

Hong Kong police said earlier they had arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter at the estate.

Meanwhile, the death toll increased to 128 after more bodies were found in the blackened towers. 

Authorities said they had retrieved 108 bodies from the buildings, while 16 remained inside. Four others died in hospital from their injuries, according to Security Secretary Chris Tang, who briefed reporters on Friday afternoon.

Another 79 people — including 11 firefighters — were injured. Around 200 people were still unaccounted for, and 89 of the recovered bodies had yet to be identified.

Tang said that the search for victims was continuing and the numbers could still rise.

He said he expected the investigation into the fire to last at least three to four weeks.

Director of Hong Kong Fire Services, Andy Yeung, noted that first responders found that some fire alarms in the complex were not functioning and that there could be legal consequences for this.

During mid-afternoon on Wednesday, the fire started at one of the complex's eight towers, rapidly spreading to the others as bamboo scaffolding covered in netting in place for renovations caught ablaze until seven buildings were engulfed.

It took Hong Kong firefighters less than 40 hours to bring the blaze under control.

In a separate high-rise tragedy, it took London firemen 60 hours to put out a fire at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of apartments in North Kensington, West London, England.

In June 2017, seventy people died at the scene, and two people died later in the hospital, reaching a total of 72 dead, and many dozens more were injured.

All 72 deaths in London's Grenfell Tower inferno 'avoidable': Final report

The report concluded there had been “systematic dishonesty” on the part of firms which made and sold the cladding or its foam insulation. the fire was the

The Grenfell Tower inferno was the deadliest residential fire in the UK since the Blitz of World War II.

The incident is still the subject of multiple ongoing investigations by separate authorities and police.

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