JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
In Hong Kong, a review committee is set to investigate the region's deadliest fire in a century. At least 21 people have been arrested so far as part of an investigation into substandard materials used to renovate the seven apartment buildings that caught fire. So far, at least 159 people have been confirmed dead in the blaze, dozens still missing. NPR's Emily Feng reports.
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EMILY FENG, BYLINE: Buddhist monks this week rang prayer bells...
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FENG: ...To guide the souls of the people killed in the fire at the Wang Fuk Court complex into the afterlife. Outside the serenity of this scene of grieving, however, is mounting public anger - frustration that the blaze in Hong Kong's Tai Po district was perhaps preventable.
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JOHN LEE: Yes. We have identified failures.
FENG: That's Hong Kong's chief executive, John Lee. He is facing heavy criticism for what he admits are systemic failures in housing regulation.
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LEE: We need to ensure vested interests will not be allowed to be a factor to cause this tragedy.
FENG: But advocacy groups critical of Lee point out the review committee he's created would have no subpoena power. Already, a local anti-corruption body has arrested several people in connection with substandard renovation material. And one citizen's advocacy group twice sent emailed complaints, that NPR has viewed, to Hong Kong's labor department, complaining in July and October 2024 about flammable netting. Hong Kong's labor department did not respond to an NPR request for comment on the complaints.
MICHAEL MO: They want no dissenting voices.
FENG: This is Michael Mo, a former local counselor from Hong Kong. He points to the case of one Hong Kong student collecting signatures for a petition demanding an independent inquiry who was already briefly detained. And in another case...
MO: One of the civil society-led press conferences has been called off after the National Security police pretty much summoned all these proposed speakers.
FENG: Summoned them in for a meeting. Asked on Tuesday about these detentions, Chief Executive John Lee responded.
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LEE: Well, criminals commit offense must be taken to justice.
FENG: Beijing's national security office in Hong Kong said on Wednesday, quote, "a small group of hostile external forces" disrupted recovery efforts.
STEVEN TSANG: At the back of the minds of many people who asked this question is the result of the passing of the Hong Kong national security law of 2020. And the way how government in Hong Kong seems to be approaching the issue appears to have changed.
FENG: This is Steven Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London. He argues Hong Kong, under pressure from Beijing, is prioritizing managing dissent, not the causes of the tragedy itself.
TSANG: The fire alarms in those buildings were not working properly to alert people, and we have not seen those questions being asked and addressed.
FENG: Samuel Chu, the president of the pro-democracy advocacy group Campaign for Hong Kong, says this diminishes popular trust.
SAMUEL CHU: And so I do think that people in Hong Kong now look at John Lee and the government and say that - you know what? - I think the mainland office is calling the shots.
FENG: Meanwhile, police are warning the search for people still missing could take up to three weeks longer. The fire burned so hot and for so long that they say any human bodies left could have been reduced to ash.
Emily Feng, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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