Thirteen people have been arrested for suspected manslaughter after Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, officials have said.
At a press conference about the tragedy at Wang Fuk Court, police said 151 people had now died as a result of the blaze – Hong Kong’s worst since 1948 – and that more than 40 are still missing.
An emotional Tsung Shuk Yin, a police official, told reporters on Monday: “Some of the bodies have turned into ash, therefore, we might not be able to locate all missing individuals.”
The fire last week engulfed multiple high rise blocks of flats. Officials overseeing investigations said that tests on several samples of a green mesh that was wrapped around bamboo scaffolding on the buildings at the time of the blaze did not match fire-retardant standards.
Officers have said mesh around Wang Fuk Court did not meet safety standards. Pic: AP
Pic: Kyodo/AP
Chief secretary Eric Chan told reporters that contractors working on the renovations used substandard materials in hard-to-reach areas, effectively hiding them from inspectors.
The officials said that foam insulation used by contractors also fanned the flames, and fire alarms at the complex were not working properly.
Sky News had previously learnt that residents raised their fears over fire safety connected to extensive renovations on Wang Fuk Court as early as September 2024.
Read more: Hong Kong mourns those lost to fire
Pic: Reuters
Labour Department acknowledges reply ‘was unclear’
In a statement to Sky News, Hong Kong’s Labour Department acknowledged that, in reply to these complaints, it told residents the mesh was designed to limit objects falling from the scaffolding and that “current safety regulations applied to construction sites by the Labour Department do not cover flame-retardant standards for scaffolding netting or any materials”.
They now acknowledge this reply to residents “was unclear and caused misunderstanding”.
Pics: Hong Kong Police Public Relations Branch/AP
The Labour Department also told residents they judged the risk of a fire on the scaffolding was “relatively low”, because the works did not include activities such as welding.
In its statement to Sky News, the Labour Department says this did not mean the risk was negligible, and also noted contractors had been reminded to “implement fire prevention measures.”
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‘It could have been avoided’
The blaze broke out at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in the city’s Tai Po district on Wednesday.
Records show the site consists of eight blocks, with almost 2,000 apartments housing around 4,800 residents, including many elderly people.
It was built in the 1980s and has recently been undergoing a major renovation.
On Sunday, more than 1,000 people turned out to pay tribute to the victims of the fire, queuing for more than a kilometre to lay flowers, some with sticky notes attached addressed to the victims.
Pics: Reuters
Man calling for probe detained
Meanwhile, it emerged that police detained Miles Kwan, 24, who was part of a group that launched a petition demanding an independent probe into possible corruption and a review of construction oversight.
An online petition demanding an independent probe into possible corruption and a review of construction oversight drew over 10,000 signatures before it was closed.
Another petition with similar demands attracted more than 2,700 signatures with its plea for “explicit accountability” from the government.
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Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Kwan was detained on Saturday. The news outlet could not establish whether he had been arrested.
He was pictured leaving a police station in a taxi on Monday afternoon.
Miles Kwan leaves a police station following his detention.
Pic: Reuters
Police did not comment on the case, and Hong Kong Security Chief Chris Tang also declined to comment on specific operations at a press conference on Monday.
He added: “I’ve noticed that some people with malicious intent, aiming to harm Hong Kong and national security, have taken advantage of this painful moment for society.
“Therefore, we must take appropriate action, including enforcement measures.”
In a statement about the arrest, Luk Chi-man, executive director of Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas, said: “We urge the Hong Kong authorities to establish the full facts of last week’s tragedy through a thorough, independent, impartial and open investigation, and to publicly clarify the cause of the fire, hold relevant persons accountable and release all findings without delay.
“It is both a right and a duty for people in Hong Kong to demand this kind of accountability; but rather than recognise this, the Hong Kong authorities have instead chosen to silence those who raise their concerns and demands.
“A healthy society should not have only one voice.”
The founder of Dignitas, the Switzerland-based assisted suicide clinic, has died aged 92, according to the organisation.
Ludwig Minelli, lawyer and former journalist, died on 29 November shortly before his 93rd birthday.
Mr Minelli lived a life “for freedom of choice, self-determination, and human rights”, said Dignitas in a tribute.
He founded the organisation in 1998 with “a group of like-minded people”.
“At that time, he and his fellow compatriots would never have thought that this association was about to become an internationally active organisation,” said the tribute.
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‘He died like he lived, with dignity’
It described Mr Minelli’s belief that trying to “talk someone out of suicide is not a suitable prevention method”.
“Rather, the approach should be taking a person in a seemingly hopeless situation seriously, meeting them at eye level, and showing them all possible options to alleviate their suffering.”
Those options should include “the possibility of ending their own life with professional support, safely and in a self-determined way in a setting that he or she personally deems dignified”, it said, adding that a very small number of people who approach Dignitas end up choosing assisted suicide.
“It is up to the individual to decide which option to choose,” said the tribute.
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For and against assisted dying
The Dignitas team said Mr Minelli had “planned succession for a seamless transition” and the organisation would continue its “professional and combative” work.
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Although Switzerland has allowed assisted dying since 1942 – provided the motive is not “selfish” – Dignitas became well-known as it allows non-Swiss people to use its clinics.
Despite assisted suicide still being illegal in the UK, people from Great Britain make up the second largest group of Dignitas members, according to the group’s statistics.
Last year, 37 people travelled from Great Britain to die at a Swiss Dignitas clinic.
Those who accompany their loved ones to the clinics can be charged with assisted suicide, although earlier this year, police said a widow who accompanied her husband wouldn’t face charges.
“Whilst [the CPS] concluded the evidential test had been met regarding assisted suicide, it was decided not to be in the public interest to prosecute,” said North Yorkshire Police in a statement at the time.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
The family of a father-of-four who died on holiday in Benidorm say new evidence has further convinced them that foul play was involved in his death.
Nathan Osman, 30, from Pontypridd in South Wales, was on a long weekend break with friends in Benidorm in September 2024.
Less than 24 hours after he arrived, his body was found by an off-duty police officer at the bottom of a remote 650ft (200m) cliff on the outskirts of the resort.
He died from head and abdominal injuries after falling from height, a post-mortem found.
Local police said it was “a tragic accident” that occurred after Nathan left his friends in Benidorm to walk back to his hotel room alone.
But his family believe the investigation into his death has not been adequate, and that the local authorities have never considered the possibility of a homicide.
Their suspicions of foul play were first provoked by the fact that the remote location where Nathan was found was in the opposite direction to the hotel, and some distance away on foot.
They began doing their own investigating, building a timeline of events drawn from sources including CCTV, witness statements and Nathan’s bank records, which they say showed attempts were made to use his bank cards the day after he died.
After presenting their findings to Spanish prosecutors as evidence that others may have been involved, the case was reopened earlier this year.
Now, the family have told Sarah-Jane Mee on The UK Tonight that new phone data they have uncovered suggests he couldn’t have reached the spot he was found on foot.
Nathan’s brother Lee, mother Elizabeth and father Jonathan speak to Sarah-Jane Mee
After getting the phone back a couple of months ago, they say they tracked Nathan’s last movements through a health app.
“There’s a breakdown inside the app of every 10 minutes – the distance, pace, measurement of pace… every detail you can think of,” Nathan’s brother, Lee Evans, tells Mee.
“His pace wasn’t consistent with a fast walk or even a sprint.”
He said it was a faster journey, despite being uphill for 40 minutes, which has convinced the family that he was in a vehicle.
Pic: Family handout
The family also went to visit the area where Nathan was found.
“We were a bit upset, but we were very pleased we went up there”, his mother, Elizabeth, says. “We could see… there’s no way he would have looked at that area and thought, ‘I’m going up here.’
“You can see straight off, there’s no clubs, there’s no hotels up there, there’s just the odd house dotted around. It was just out in the wild, there was nothing up there.”
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The family says the phone data has helped them determine that he died around half an hour after he was seen on CCTV walking towards his hotel in the early hours of the morning.
“It was really ridiculous to think that my son would’ve walked up there [the remote location where he died] at 4am in the pitch dark.”
After the family were interviewed by Mee in May, South Wales Police opened its own investigation into Nathan’s death.
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Nathan’s family speaking to Mee in May
Lee says the Welsh force has been “appalled” by the lack of evidence turned over from the local police’s investigation.
His and Nathan’s father, Jonathan, says: “No procedures were followed. Nothing was cordoned off, it wasn’t a crime scene. There’s loads of things that could’ve been taken. Tyre tracks, foot tracks, nothing. No DNA taken.”
Lee says: “All that we’ve done over the last year, this could’ve been squashed within the first week, two weeks [by local investigators].
“We’ve had to find out and keep delving into every possible outcome and overturn every stone possible. We started off with… a needle in a haystack, we had no direction or any support on which way to go.”
Nathan Osman. Pic: Family handout
What does Nathan’s family hope for now?
Nathan’s family say they have located 27 CCTV cameras which could have picked Nathan up in the area, after local investigators didn’t find any.
Elizabeth says that after alerting Spanish police to the locations, they were told that the CCTV “wouldn’t be working” or that footage would’ve already been erased.
“They just surmised everything,” she adds.
But the family, who found the last known CCTV footage of Nathan earlier this year, are convinced there is still hope.
Lee says: “There’s a number of CCTV footage in that area. We know there’s a way of finding a vehicle of some sort.”
But the family admit they may never find whoever could be responsible for Nathan’s death because so much time has been lost.
Elizabeth concludes: “Nathan walks with us every day. We all believe that,” adding that “all we want” is to find the ones responsible for his death and for him to “have the respect of a decent investigation”.
Sky News contacted Spanish police, which declined to comment, adding the case is under judicial review and it doesn’t want to hinder the course of the investigation.
South Wales Police told Sky News: “South Wales Police is carrying out enquiries on behalf of HM Coroner and a family liaison officer has been appointed to provide support.”
Watch the full interview with Sarah-Jane Mee on The UK Tonight from 8pm this evening on Sky News.
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