Saturday marked the beginning of a three-day mourning period in Hong Kong, in honour of over 140 people killed in the fire that engulfed the city’s seven tower blocks on November 26.
But as grief swept across the Chinese special administrative region, calls for accountability ascended, along with alleged attempts to silence them.
Local media reported on Saturday that Hong Kong authorities arrested one person who was part of a group that was demanding government accountability for the deadly blaze in the Wang Fuk Court complex of the northern Tai Po district.
The group particularly seeks an independent probe into possible corruption, proper resettlement for affected residents and a review of construction oversight.
The detained individual was identified as 24-year-old Miles Kwan, who was last seen distributing flyers to commuters outside a local train station near the burnt buildings on Friday, urging them to support aforementioned demands by signing an online petition.
Speaking with the media, Kwan said the move is built on the belief that the fire “was not an accident” but a result of human error.
It is reported that Kwan was taken into custody on suspicion of sedition under the national security law, which Beijing imposed in 2020.
The online petition he was promoting was also taken down moments after his arrest.
It reportedly earned 10,000 signatures in less than a day.
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Police insist lawful actions
As of writing, local police have yet to confirm Kwan’s arrest.
In a statement to Agence France-Presse, authorities insisted they are only taking actions “according to actual circumstances and in accordance with the law.”
The development follows a stern warning from the national security office in Hong Kong on Saturday, directed at what it called “anti-China disruptors,” who are allegedly taking advantage of the Tai Po disaster to obstruct peace and order in the city.
“No matter what methods you use, you will certainly be held accountable and strictly punished under the Hong Kong national security law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance,” reads the statement from the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS), as quoted by The Guardian.
It did not specify any incident that provoked the warning.
Eleven confirmed arrests
So far, local authorities said they have arrested 11 people in connection with the lethal complex blaze, eight of whom were held on suspicion of corruption over the renovation works at the charred properties, while three others face manslaughter charges.
The cause of the fire, the city’s deadliest in decades, is yet to be determined, as the retrieval operation is still underway, with more than 100 residents still missing.
But authorities attributed the rapid escalation of the fire to the flammable materials placed on the exterior of the affected buildings which were undergoing renovations.
The city’s fire services also claimed that most fire alarms in the blocks were either defective or not working at all.
Based on the account of Hong Kong’s Department of Labour, Wang Fuk Court residents complained in 2024 about the broken fire alarms and fire hazards posed by the ongoing construction works at the complex, but authorities insisted on “relatively low fire risks” on site.
KC Maderia 
Kamille Q. Cabreza 
John Christopher Aquino