Hong Kong police have arrested three men on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a fire that affected several residential blocks in the Tai Po district and has left 36 dead and 29 hospitalized, seven of them in critical condition.
The head of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department stated that the material caused the fire to spread more quickly between the blocks and set residential apartments on fire through the corridors.
The Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post reported the arrest of three men on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and stated that the autonomous city's police will hold a press conference soon to provide more details.
The fire was initially classified as a level 1 alarm, but it quickly escalated to level 4 at 15:34 local time (07:34 GMT), mobilizing more than 140 fire trucks and over 800 firefighters and paramedics.
According to the South China Morning Post, the director of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department, Andy Yeung Yan-ki, noted that expanded polystyrene, a material used for thermal insulation, had been found inside the gutted buildings.
279 people are still missing following the fire, which affected seven buildings of the Wang Fuk Court residential complex and started from bamboo scaffolding installed on the exterior of several floors.
