Hong Kong authorities say netting on buildings that caught fire did not meet code

“Because the fire is now out, we have been able to get to places that were not easily accessible before to take samples,” Tang told reporters.

The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon and took until Friday morning to extinguish. At least 146 people were killed, dozens injured and thousands left homeless.

Donations for survivors of the fire had reached 900 million Hong Kong dollars (US$115 million) as of Monday, authorities said, as a steady stream of people placed flowers, cards and other tributes at a makeshift memorial near the burned out block of buildings.

“When something happens, we come out to help each other, ” said Loretta Loh, after paying her regards at the site. “I have a heavy heart.”

The fire broke out Wednesday afternoon at the the Wang Fuk Court complex in the suburb of Tai Po. It burned through seven of eight apartment towers, home to some 4,600 people.

Hong Kong police Disaster Victim Identification Unit staff went through four of the buildings over the weekend, finding another 30 bodies that took the official death toll to 146. Another 100 people are still unaccounted for and 79 were injured.

On Monday, Hong Kong authorities said teams were assessing the safety of the other buildings, including the one that caught fire first and suffered the worst damage.

The millions of donated funds, and 300 million Hong Kong dollars ($38.5 million) in start-up capital from the government, will be used to help victims rebuild their homes and provide long--term support, local officials said. The government has also given survivors cash subsidies to help with expenses, including funerals, and is working to find them housing.

By Monday, 683 residents had found places in local hotels and hostels, and another 1,144 moved into transitional housing units. Two emergency shelters remained open for others, authorities said.

The complex's buildings were all clad in bamboo scaffolding draped with nylon netting for external renovations. Windows were covered with polystyrene panels, and authorities are investigating if fire codes had been violated.

Residents had complained for almost a year about the netting that covered the scaffolding, Hong Kong's Labor Department said. It confirmed officials had carried out 16 inspections of the renovation project since July 2024 and had warned contractors multiple times in writing that they had to meet fire safety requirements. The latest inspection was just a week before the fire.

Hong Kong's anti-corruption agency has arrested 11 people, including the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company. A growing number of people have been questioning whether government officials should also be held responsible.

"People are angry and think that the HK (Hong Kong) government should be accountable,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a locally-based political scientist and senior research fellow at the Paris-based Asia Centre think tank.

But the leeway for dissent is limited in the former British colony, which came under Chinese control in 1997 and increasingly has moved to quiet public criticism on national security grounds.

On Saturday, the Office for Safeguarding National Security hit out with a harshly-worded statement about what it called “evil schemes” that had ”the ulterior motives of using the disaster to create trouble and disrupt Hong Kong.” It did not give specifics.

On Saturday, a man who helped organize an online petition calling for government accountability was arrested on suspicion of sedition, local media including HK01 and Sing Tao Daily reported. Two others were arrested on Sunday, including a volunteer who offered help in Tai Po after the fire broke out, the same outlets reported.

Cabestan said Hong Kong authorities were operating like authorities in mainland China, forestalling protests before they might develop.

Hong Kong police would not comment specifically on the arrests, telling The Associated Press only that “police will take actions according to actual circumstances and in accordance with the law.”

Authorities have effectively quashed dissent in the city since hundreds of thousands took to the streets in 2019 against government plans to allow extradition to mainland China, and have virtually banned mass protests as well as opposition political figures from running in legislature elections.