The complex’s buildings were all clad in bamboo scaffolding draped with nylon netting for external renovations. Windows were covered with polystyrene panels, and authorities are investigating if fire codes had been violated.
Residents had complained for almost a year about the netting that covered the scaffolding, Hong Kong’s Labor Department said. It confirmed officials had carried out 16 inspections of the renovation project since July 2024 and had warned contractors multiple times in writing that they had to meet fire safety requirements. The latest inspection was just a week before the fire.
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency has arrested 11 people, including the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company. A growing number of people have been questioning whether government officials should also be held responsible.
“People are angry and think that the HK (Hong Kong) government should be accountable,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a locally-based political scientist and senior research fellow at the Paris-based Asia Centre think tank.
On Saturday, the Office for Safeguarding National Security hit out with a statement about what it called “evil schemes” that had ”the ulterior motives of using the disaster to create trouble and disrupt Hong Kong”. It did not give specifics.
On Saturday, a man who helped organise an online petition calling for government accountability was arrested on suspicion of sedition, local media, including HK01 and Sing Tao Daily, reported. Two others were arrested on Sunday, including a volunteer who offered help in Tai Po after the fire broke out, the same outlets reported.
Hong Kong police would not comment specifically on the arrests, telling The Associated Press only that “police will take actions according to actual circumstances and in accordance with the law”.
