Death toll hits 159 in Tai Po blaze, 31 still missing

The death toll in Hong Kong's Tai Po blaze reached 159 on Wednesday, with 140 victims identified, including 49 men and 91 women, ranging from ages 1 to 97, as the Hong Kong Police Force completes search operations at all seven fire-ravaged towers.

The deceased include one firefighter who died in the line of duty, 10 foreign domestic workers, and five on-site workers. Forty-two injured people have been discharged from hospitals, while 37 remain hospitalized — four in critical condition, nine serious, and 24 considered stable. Thirty-one people are still missing.

Joe Chow Yat-ming, commissioner of police, said search operations will be conducted under the collapsed scaffolding to check for possible victims at a later stage. Remains discovered in some units at the scene will be sent to forensic examiners and government laboratories for further testing to determine whether they are human or animal, while DNA analysis will be used for identification purposes.

Preliminary investigations into the fatal fire suggest that substandard protective mesh netting around the buildings may have contributed to the fire's rapid spread.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has ordered the immediate removal of netting around all buildings across the city undergoing major renovations.

The Buildings Department also aims to issue a new guideline next week, requiring all mesh netting materials delivered to construction sites undergo on-site sampling by designated labs before they are approved for installation and use.

Also on Tuesday, police arrested six additional people aged 44 to 55 on suspicion of making false representations to the Fire Services Department by claiming that fire alarms in the fire-hit buildings would be activated during maintenance.

The total number of arrests related to maintenance works by both the police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption has reached 21. Four people were also arrested over the past few days for alleged sedition in relation to the fire.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, a representative of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR condemned "a small group of external hostile forces" for "taking advantage of the disaster to create chaos".

The representative warned "external hostile forces and anti-China elements" that such actions will not be tolerated and will lead to bitter consequences. "Justice shall be done regardless of the distance involved," the representative added.

Meanwhile, residents of the sole unaffected tower at Wang Fuk Court, Wang Chi House, were allowed to return to their homes to retrieve personal belongings on Wednesday and Thursday.

More urgently needed supplies from the Chinese mainland, including protective goggles and waterproof gloves, were delivered to Hong Kong on Wednesday to support fire relief efforts. The supplies were provided by the Ministry of Emergency Management, under the coordination of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Local relief efforts are continuing, with registration completed for 1,930 households to receive a HK$10,000 ($1,285) emergency cash grant; disbursements have been made to 1,921 households. As of Tuesday, 104 households had received a HK$50,000 living allowance.

Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Clarence Leung Wang-ching said in a radio interview that over 2,600 residents are staying in temporary to long-term free accommodation. The government-established support fund has to date accumulated HK$2.3 billion.