Hong Kong
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In simply a few quick hours on Wednesday afternoon, what started as a small fire on the first flooring of an condominium constructing swelled into a raging inferno that consumed seven high-rise towers on a Hong Kong public housing property.
At least 128 folks have died, as many as 200 are lacking, and 1000’s at the moment are homeless in a metropolis that’s chronically quick of area – and the place property costs are amongst the world’s costliest.
The blaze has additionally surprised Hong Kong, which has a sturdy security report and is unused to disasters on this scale.
The trigger of the fire just isn’t but identified. But the buildings in the complicated had all been beneath renovation, with many home windows blocked by extremely flammable polystyrene that authorities say helped gas the fire.
That, and a sequence of different security shortcomings, all fueled Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades.
Here’s a timeline of how the blaze burned out of management.
Roughly 24 hours after the fire started, the scale of the tragedy slowly grew to become clear – and the loss of life toll continued ticking up all through the following days.
Facing heavy strain from a grieving and indignant public, authorities have launched legal and anticorruption investigations, arresting eight extra folks on Friday linked to the renovation challenge.
But for survivors and bereaved households, there could also be no reply that may ease the ache of what they’ve misplaced.