3 arrested after highrise fire in Hong Kong kills dozens

Police have said the huge fire at the Hong Kong apartment complex may have been spread by unsafe scaffolding and foam materials used during maintenance work, report informs via The Guardian.

They said on Thursday that in addition to the buildings being covered with protective mesh sheets and plastic that might not meet fire standards, they discovered some windows on one unaffected building were sealed with a foam material, Olaylar reports.

The highly flammable material had been installed by a construction company carrying out maintenance work, they said.

Eileen Chung, a Hong Kong police superintendent, said: "We have reason to believe that the companychr("39")s responsible parties were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties."

Three men from the construction company - two directors and one engineering consultant - had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the fire, Chung said.

By Thursday morning, authorities said they had brought the fire in four blocks under control while operations were continuing in three blocks.

The green construction mesh and bamboo scaffolding used on the buildings are a mainstay of traditional Chinese architecture but have been subject to a phase-out in Hong Kong since March for safety reasons.