Inside Hong Kong’s Deadly Tower Block Blaze: ‘It Was Horrifying’

It was around 2:51 p.m. on a sunny Wednesday afternoon when flames were first spotted climbing up the bamboo scaffolding and green netting that encased the 31-story Wang Cheong House in northeastern Hong Kong.

Within hours, the fire leapt from block to block in the waterfront residential complex in the district of Tai Po, fanned by continental winds bringing cool, dry air. Soon seven of the eight towers — which altogether contained about 2,000 apartments housing some 5,000 people — were ablaze as black smoke darkened the skies.