Blaze, backlash and Beijing: Hong Kong grieves as anger smoulders

Public fury over a devastating fire in a Hong Kong high-rise continued to simmer on Sunday, even as Beijing cautioned against any attempts to turn the tragedy into a political flashpoint. Across the financial hub, residents mourned the more than 128 people who lost their lives, according to a Reuters report.

Police on Saturday detained a member of a small activist group that had launched an online petition calling for the authorities to take responsibility, initiate an independent investigation into suspected corruption, provide proper rehousing for those displaced, and reassess regulatory lapses in construction oversight, two people familiar with the development said.

Miles Kwan, a 24-year-old university student, was among those taken into custody, reportedly on suspicion of attempting to incite sedition linked to the inferno at Wang Fuk Court in the northern Tai Po district, the South China Morning Post reported. Hong Kong police did not respond on Sunday to enquiries seeking comment. Before it was abruptly shut down, the petition had attracted more than 10,000 signatures by Saturday afternoon.

A second petition echoing the same demands has since been launched by a Tai Po resident now residing overseas. “Hongkongers demand the truth and justice,” wrote KY in the comments accompanying the new petition.

The enormous blaze — which tore through seven residential towers near the mainland Chinese border — has shocked the territory and prompted simultaneous criminal and corruption inquiries, amid rising public frustration and grief.

Officials have not yet determined what triggered the fire, which killed 128 people and left another 150 still unaccounted for.

Authorities remain acutely mindful of any potential resurgence of public unrest, still haunted by the mass pro-democracy demonstrations of 2019 that culminated in Beijing’s imposition of a sweeping national security law.

China’s national security apparatus on Saturday issued a pointed warning, telling individuals not to seize on the disaster to foment turmoil. “We sternly warn the anti-China disruptors who attempt to ‘disrupt Hong Kong through disaster’. No matter what methods you use, you will certainly be held accountable and strictly punished under the Hong Kong national security law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.”

Investigators have arrested 11 people in connection with what Reuters described as the city’s deadliest blaze in almost eight decades, as scrutiny intensifies over the possible use of substandard materials and corrupt practices during renovation works at the Wang Fuk Court complex.

Though rescue operations at the site concluded on Friday, police cautioned that more bodies could be recovered as forensic teams continue combing through the charred and unstable structures. Hundreds of officers assigned to the search operation retrieved no additional human remains but did rescue three cats and a turtle, officials said at a press briefing.

Support for victims has flowed in from major corporates, smaller businesses and community groups alike.

The fire, which broke out on Wednesday afternoon, rapidly swept through seven of the eight 32-storey residential blocks. The towers were encased in bamboo scaffolding, green protective mesh and layers of foam insulation as part of the ongoing refurbishment.

Officials later confirmed that fire alarms within the Wang Fuk Court estate – home to more than 4,600 residents – had not been functioning correctly.

The incident is now the deadliest fire Hong Kong has witnessed since 1948, when 176 people were killed in a warehouse inferno.

According to the city’s labour department, authorities had informed Wang Fuk Court tenants last year that they faced “relatively low fire risks”, despite residents having lodged complaints about safety hazards linked to the renovation work.

Those concerns, raised in September 2024, included fears over the flammability of the green mesh commonly used by contractors to wrap bamboo scaffolding, a department spokesperson said.

With agency inputs