Fire in Hong Kong: at least 65 dead and 250 wounded as authorities confirm flames are 'under control' in Tai Po

The Hong Kong Fire Department have raised to 65 the death toll from the massive blaze that swept through a residential high-rise complex from Wednesday through Thursday. More than 250 people remain missing.

Of the deceased, 51 perished at the scene of the incident, in a cluster of seven buildings in the Tai Po district of the northern part of the financial center. Four other victims died in hospital.

A 37-year-old firefighter is among the deceased after he was found with burns to his face half an hour after losing contact with his colleagues.

A total of 58 injured are being treated in hospitals, 12 in critical condition, 29 serious and 17 stable, a government spokesman told AFP.

In addition, firefighters reported that the fires in four apartment towers are now extinguished, while in three others they are "under control." The eighth tower was not affected.

"Nothing can be done about the property"

The conflagration, the worst fire recorded in several decades in the financial center, broke out Wednesday afternoon in a block of 2,000 apartments, according to AFP. The emergency has shocked the entire city, which has some of the most densely populated housing complexes in the world.

The blaze started on traditional bamboo scaffolding that had been erected around several of the 31-story buildings in the Wang Fuk Court complex in the northern Tai Po district, which was under repair.

The city's chief executive, John Lee, had said in the early hours of the morning that 279 people were missing, although firefighters later reported that they had made contact with some of them.

Lee added that more than 900 residents have sought refuge in temporary shelters.

So, a 57-year-old Tai Po resident, called the fire "heartbreaking." "Nothing can be done about the property. We can only hope that everyone, regardless of age, can return safely," he told AFP.

The owner of an apartment in his 40s who did not want to give his name added that the government must help people left homeless by the fire. "The fire is not under control and I don't dare to leave. I don't know what I can do," he commented during the fire.

Several residents were evacuated in buses and local media reported that authorities also vacated several adjacent buildings.

Three detained and anti-corruption investigation

Police said Thursday morning that they arrested three men linked to the fire after flammable materials left over from maintenance work caused the flames to "spread rapidly out of control."

Officers subsequently raided a premises in another neighborhood and seized documents related to those captured, who police suspect "acted with gross negligence" by leaving foam wrappers at the scene.

For its part, Hong Kong's anti-corruption agency announced Thursday that it had launched an investigation into the renovation work on the residential complex that caught fire.

"In view of the immense public interest involved, the ICAC today set up a task force to launch a full investigation into possible corruption in the grand renovation project of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po," the Independent Commission Against Corruption said in a statement.