The inferno that engulfed Wang Fuk Court residential compound in Hong Kong is still burning, but questions are already being asked about what the deadliest fire in more than 70 years means for Beijing’s grip on power in the city.
The death toll from the blaze, which tore apart seven of the eight high-rise apartment buildings in Wang Fuk Court, a residential compound home to 4,800 people, is still rising. Hundreds of people are still missing.
But as firefighters work to bring the fire under control and make progress with rescue efforts, anger is already swelling among Hongkongers about the causes of the fire.
The fire has also tapped into the social anxiety in Hong Kong around affordable housing, where sky-high property prices mean that many people live in tightly packed high-rise apartments that can become death traps when disaster strikes.
TL;Dr: They want the Hong Kong leader to focus on the renovation company’s possible corruption, not the bamboo that didn’t burn.
The Hong Kong leader responded to the fire by promising to replace (traditional Hong Kong) bamboo scaffolding with (mainland China) steel, because they’re claiming it might have been an accelerant.
Residents argue that this is a distraction (most of the bamboo is still standing) from the real issue: the company doing the renovation/maintenance seems shoddy/corrupt and should be investigated.
At this point, the article gets unfocused and jumps around a lot.
By the end, she’s talking about the upcoming elections being compromised by the Chinese government.