Steel bars brought in to strengthen building ravaged in Hong Kong’s Tai Po blaze
Bars hauled into flats at Wang Cheong House, the first of seven blocks engulfed by fire, while authorities say probe will take two to three weeks
Steel bars have been brought in to reinforce the structure of one of the fire-ravaged blocks in Hong Kong’s Wang Fuk Court, while investigations into the catastrophic Tai Po blaze are expected to continue for two to three weeks.
A crane lifted bundles of steel bars to flats in the 31-storey Wang Cheong House – the first building to ignite in the conflagration – on Monday afternoon. Workers then hauled the bars into flats through their windows.
The fire that broke out on November 26 and engulfed seven out of eight residential blocks killed at least 159 people, including a firefighter, and left nearly 5,000 people homeless.
Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming visited the estate on Monday afternoon but did not speak to the media. He earlier said that many flats were severely charred in the fire, while some load-bearing walls had been burnt to the extent that only their reinforcement bars remained.
A makeshift memorial at the Kwong Fuk Sitting-out Area facing the estate was cleared by police on Sunday night, while a nearby park that had previously been cordoned off reopened on Monday.
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Officers from the police force’s Disaster Victim Identification Unit completed their search of all seven affected blocks last Wednesday, but authorities said they would take another two to three weeks to complete investigations.