
The death toll from a massive blaze in a Hong Kong apartment complex rose to 65 on Thursday, with over 250 still missing, as police said the fire may have been caused by a “grossly negligent” construction firm using unsafe materials. Almost a full day after the fire began, firefighters were struggling to reach residents potentially trapped on the upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex due to intense heat and thick smoke from the blaze that erupted on Wednesday afternoon. Hong Kong’s government said the death toll from the fire had risen to 65. The fire had “claimed 65 lives and injured 70 people” by 8pm local time (5pm PKT), a government spokesperson told AFP, citing fire service figures, adding that 10 firefighters had been injured since the blaze broke out yesterday. The tightly packed complex in the northern Tai Po district has 2,000 apartments in eight blocks that are home to more than 4,600 people in a city struggling with chronic shortages of affordable housing. “We bought [a place] in this ...