{"id":319766,"date":"2025-12-02T04:10:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T04:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/319766\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T04:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T04:10:07","slug":"hong-kong-arrests-13-on-suspicion-of-manslaughter-over-apartment-fires-hong-kong-apartment-fires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/319766\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong arrests 13 on suspicion of manslaughter over apartment fires | Hong Kong apartment fires"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested 13 people on suspicion of manslaughter in relation to last week\u2019s devastating fire<\/a>, as they face growing criticism from residents over the arrests under national security laws of at least two civilians calling for accountability.<\/p>\n

Emergency services continued to search through the seven towers of the Wang Fuk Court estate in Tai Po on Monday, days after the city\u2019s deadliest fire in 75 years<\/a>. The death toll rose to 151 and is expected to rise further as the search continues. About 40 people are still missing.<\/p>\n

The estate, home to almost 5,000 people, had been undergoing extensive renovations that have been linked to the fire\u2019s cause. In the aftermath, anger<\/a> has grown over alleged past safety violations by the construction company working at the site and lax enforcement of standards, fuelled by revelations that residents had been complaining about the renovations for a year.<\/p>\n

On Monday afternoon, officials said anti-corruption authorities had arrested 13 people over the disaster so far, including the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company, and had \u201cimmediately begun comprehensive investigation along the lines of manslaughter\u201d.<\/p>\n

Members of the disaster victim identification unit work in an apartment at Wang Fuk Court. Photograph: AP<\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s chief secretary, Eric Chan, said seven of 20 tested samples of the mesh netting used in scaffolding around the towers did not meet fire-retardant standards. Initial testing found samples were up to code, but Chan said the cheaper, noncompliant netting had been put in areas difficult to access in order to evade detection, describing it as a \u201cshameful act\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just wanted to make money at the expense of people\u2019s lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As allegations of safety violations grow, alongside revelations that government authorities had issued multiple apparently unenforced warnings, residents have asked why no officials have yet faced consequences. Instead, two civilians were reportedly arrested by national security police.<\/p>\n

Miles Kwan, a Hong Kong student, was arrested on Saturday over an online petition that made \u201cfour demands\u201d for guaranteed support of the victims and accountability for those at fault, including any corrupt or culpable government officials.<\/p>\n

Miles Kwan is driven away from a police station following his detention on Monday. Photograph: Lam Yik\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Local media said Kwan was arrested for \u201cseditious intention\u201d. Police did not confirm the arrest, saying only that they \u201cwill take actions according to actual circumstances and in accordance with the law\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kwan was seen leaving a police station on Monday afternoon, Agence France-Presse reported.<\/p>\n

Local media also reported the arrest of Kenneth Cheung, a former district councillor, on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n

Asked on Monday about the arrests, the secretary of security, Chris Tang, said only there had been \u201cinaccurate comments online\u201d that were intended to threaten national security. \u201cTherefore, we must take appropriate measures, including law enforcement measures,\u201d Tang told the press conference. \u201cOperational details cannot be disclosed as they involve national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Hong Kong social media, people criticised the arrests of civilians. \u201cNational security must be prioritised even if the dead are still buried in the building,\u201d said one.<\/p>\n

Some commenters drew comparisons to mainland China<\/a>. \u201cThe mainland calls these crimes \u2018picking quarrels and provoking trouble\u2019,\u201d said one commenter. \u201cIt\u2019s usually punished with heavy sentences. Stability trumps everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another said: \u201cNow that we are aligning with mainland China\u2019s approach, by dealing with the person who raises the question, no one will dare to ask questions, and thus Hong Kong\u2019s governance will have no problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Posters for missing pets placed near the scene of the fire. Photograph: Lam Yik\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The arrests followed warnings by national security authorities that they would crack down on anyone deemed to be using the incident to incite \u201canti-China\u201d sentiment.<\/p>\n

Before the arrests, authorities had already begun showing heightened sensitivity to the community response in Tai Po. Since the 2019 protests were quelled, civilian gatherings have been tightly controlled or prevented in Hong Kong. On Thursday and Friday the Guardian witnessed<\/a> the rapid establishment of volunteer supporters using skills not seen at this scale since the protests, with hundreds of people using cars and public transport to bring in mountains of clothes, food and other essentials for the victims. The Guardian did not see any sign of political activism.<\/p>\n

However, by evening, armed police were patrolling the area, and government officials soon took over from volunteer organisers.<\/p>\n

The petition over which Kwan was allegedly arrested was launched late on Friday. Its \u201cfour demands\u201d echoed the language of the protest movement\u2019s \u201cfive demands\u201d for democratic progress, but did not call for political change.<\/p>\n

Kwan told media on Friday that he was only \u201cproposing very basic demands\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf these ideas are deemed seditious or \u2019crossing the line\u2019, then I feel I can\u2019t predict the consequences of anything any more, and I can only do what I truly believe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Lillian Yang and agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested 13 people on suspicion of manslaughter in relation to last week\u2019s devastating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-319766","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}