Hong Kong Arrests Three Over Deadly Blaze, Probes Bamboo Scaffolding

Hong Kong police have arrested three senior figures at an engineering firm after a deadly fire at a high-rise complex, a disaster that has intensified concerns about construction and renovation practices in one of the world’s most densely populated cities — including the use of bamboo scaffolding.

The blaze, which erupted Wednesday, killed at least 44 residents and left hundreds missing in Hong Kong’s worst residential fire in more than half a century. The complex, built in the 1980s as government-subsidized housing with about 2,000 flats, was undergoing a lengthy renovation at the time.