Hong Kong tower fire toll rises to 44, police arrest three

The death toll from Hong Kong's deadliest fire in three decades rose to 44 on Thursday as firefighters battled to extinguish a huge blaze that ripped through high-rise residential towers sheathed in flammable bamboo scaffolding, authorities said.



Firefighters were struggling to reach upper floors of the housing complex, which has 2,000 apartments in eight blocks, due to the intense heat and thick smoke that still engulfed the 32-storey towers, where many people were believed trapped inside.



The cause of the blaze in the northern Tai Po district was not immediately known, but it was fanned by green construction mesh and bamboo scaffolding - a mainstay of traditional Chinese architecture but subject to a phase-out in Hong Kong since March for safety reasons.



Police said the buildings being covered with protective mesh sheets and plastic did not meet fire standards.



"We have reason to believe that the company's responsible parties were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties, " Eileen Chung, a Hong Kong police superintendent, said. Three men from the construction company had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the fire, she added.



A firefighter was among the 44 killed, with 45 people in hospital in critical condition, Hong Kong police told a press conference before dawn. The fire was under control in four of the residential blocks, they said.