Grim Toll in Hong Kong Fire Keeps Going Up

The death toll in Hong Kong's apartment complex blaze rose to 146 on Sunday as investigators discovered more bodies in the burned-out buildings. A steady stream of people placed bouquets of flowers at an ever-growing makeshift memorial at the scene of the disaster, reports the AP, among the worst in the city's history. The Hong Kong police Disaster Victim Identification Unit has been going through the buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex meticulously and has found bodies both in apartment units and on the roofs, said the officer in charge, Cheng Ka-chun. The buildings remain structurally sound, but the search has been slow, he told reporters. "It is so dark inside, and because of the low light, it is very difficult to do the work."

So far the team has examined four of the seven blocks, Cheng said. The latest searches turned up another 30 bodies, including 12 that had already been discovered by firefighters but hadn't been recovered, said Tsang Shuk-yin, head of the Hong Kong police casualty unit. Another 100 people are unaccounted for and 79 have been injured, Tsang said. At the scene, well-wishers bowed and said short prayers, or left handwritten notes among the flowers. "This really serves as a wake-up call for everyone, especially with these super high-rise buildings," said Lian Shuzheng, who waited in a line of hundreds of people to add her flowers to the growing cluster.

People have also donated supplies to those who lost everything in the blaze, which started Wednesday and took until Friday to fully extinguish. The eight buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex in the suburb of Tai Po had all been clad in bamboo scaffolding draped with nylon netting for renovations, with windows covered by polystyrene panels. Authorities were investigating whether fire codes were violated. Hong Kong officials announced late Saturday they had ordered the immediate suspension of work on 28 building projects undertaken by the same contractor, the Prestige Construction & Engineering Company, for safety audits.

"The five alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po, exposed serious deficiencies of PC&E in site safety management, including the extensive use of foam boards to block up windows during building repairs," the government said in a statement. "It's heartbreaking," said Jeffery Chan, a civil servant who came to pay his respects on Sunday. "As a Hong Konger, seeing people in the place where we live lose their families, lose everything in just one night—if you put yourself in their shoes, it is unbearable."