At least 128 people died on Wednesday in one of Hong Kong's worst fires in decades, after flames swept through Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, a residential complex in the city's hilly New Territories.
The tragedy took on another layer after a viral video on social media claimed the blaze might have been sparked by a cigarette.
The clip, posted by RT India, alleged, "Shocking Footage Shows Workers Smoking Near Outer Wall Just Moments Before Blaze Engulfed Wang Fu Court In Hong Kong."
Authorities have not corroborated this claim and have yet to determine the official cause of the fire.
The scale of destruction has also revived concerns over Hong Kong's traditional bamboo scaffolding, with many questioning whether it intensified the spread of the flames. Though still widely used across the city, a rare holdover from centuries-old construction methods in Asia, bamboo frames have increasingly come under scrutiny.
Wang Fuk Court's eight towers were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green protective netting as part of extensive renovation work that began last year. When the fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon, the dry bamboo and mesh created a network through which the blaze rapidly climbed.
The Hong Kong government said Friday that falling pieces of bamboo had contributed to the fire's spread. A day earlier, officials stressed it was "imperative to expedite" the shift to metal scaffolding across the city for safety reasons.
According to preliminary findings, the fire originated in protective netting on the lower floors of one block before racing upward, fuelled by "highly flammable" foam boards, security chief Chris Tang said.
On Friday, authorities arrested eight individuals, seven men and one woman aged 40 to 63, linked to the renovation project. Those detained include scaffolding subcontractors, directors of an engineering consultancy, and project managers overseeing the work, the Independent Commission Against Corruption said in a statement.
(With input from agencies)
