A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Fifty-five people are dead and hundreds remain missing after a massive fire broke out at a public housing complex in Hong Kong on Wednesday. It took nearly a day for firefighters to get the fire under control, with many residents trapped inside. The complex had been under renovation and authorities say that construction materials used for that work did not meet standards.
Reporter Sherisse Pham joins us now from Hong Kong. Sherisse, you actually got to visit the site of the fire. Tell us about what you saw.
SHERISSE PHAM: Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is one of the deadliest fires in the city's history. When I went there earlier today, some of the buildings were charred black. Firefighters were still trying to put out fires in three buildings more than 24 hours later. It's a huge public housing complex, home to about 4,600 people. And the estate had been under renovation.
You know, the buildings were covered in bamboo scaffolding and green protective netting. And as the fire burned through the complex last night, you could see a lot of that scaffolding and netting catching fire and spreading. Now, earlier today, I saw a big piece of debris fall from one of the buildings that was still on fire.
So police have arrested three people from the company responsible for the renovations on suspicion of manslaughter, saying the contractor had been, quote, "grossly negligent." They found netting and construction materials that didn't meet safety standards. And police said that styrofoam boards used near windows were highly flammable, and those specifically may have contributed to how fast this fire spread.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. Tell us more about where exactly this fire took place.
PHAM: Yeah. It's in a public housing estate called Wang Fuk Court. It's in a suburban district in Northeast Hong Kong. It's this really pretty area. It's next to a river, it's got walking paths and parks. And I just want to give you a sense of how big the complex is. It has nearly 2,000 apartments spread across eight buildings that are 32 stories high.
And the height of the buildings was a real challenge for firefighters because their ladders can't go that high. So when I was there, I saw fire hoses pointed at the buildings, but, you know, the water stream was only hitting halfway or two-thirds of the way up. And this is a public housing complex. So it's a more affordable place to live in a city that's famous for high property and rental prices.
And with public housing here, people often move in and they just don't leave. So there are likely, sadly, a lot of elderly people living there. I actually spoke with one woman, Mrs. Lam. She preferred not to give her first name for privacy reasons. She's 65. She lived there with her husband for more than 40 years.
She found out about the fire from a text message from a friend and then seconds later the alarm went off and she knew she had to leave. She tried to get to her neighbor, a man in his 80s who has trouble walking. There was no answer at the door and she still hadn't heard from him as of this afternoon.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. You mentioned earlier that hundreds of people are still missing, which could mean that the death toll of 55 might actually grow, right?
PHAM: That's right. And several people injured in the fire are still in critical condition, according to the government. And firefighters are still trying to rescue people trapped inside or people suspected to be trapped inside. For now, hundreds of people affected by this fire are in temporary shelters. And I talked to one elderly couple. They had lived in Wang Fuk Court since it was built.
They were sitting on a park bench with a nylon bag, stuffed with a blanket and a foldable mattress at their feet. They were watching the fires burn for hours and, you know, they weren't sure if their apartment survived, but they at least had a place to stay for tonight. They'd go to their son's place. Others, sadly, won't be so lucky.
MARTÍNEZ: That is reporter Sherisse Pham joining us from Hong Kong. Sherisse, thank you for your reporting.
PHAM: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF PETER BRODERICK'S "EYES CLOSED AND TRAVELING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
