Death toll rises to 55 in Hong Kong fire, 279 still missing
Beijing/Hong Kong (PTI): The death toll in a deadly fire in multiple high-rise towers in Hong Kong has risen to 55 with 279 people still missing, Chinese official media reports said on Thursday.
Three men have been arrested for suspected manslaughter in the fire that broke out in Wang Fuk Court on Wednesday, Hong Kong Police Force was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.
Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee said that 279 people are still missing in the worst fire in Hong Kong's history involving multiple high-rise blocks.
At least sixty-eight people are in hospital, with 16 in critical condition and 25 deemed serious, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Police investigation suggested that the protective nets, waterproof canvas and plastic cloth covering the buildings might fall short of fireproof standards.
The police also found that polyurethane foam was used to seal windows of elevator lobbies in an unaffected building in the residential area, and pointed to the flammable material as a possible cause for the rapid spread of fire, the report said.
The three men arrested by police were executives of a construction company responsible for installing these materials for the renovation of the buildings. The suspects aged between 52 and 68 include two company directors and a project consultant whose gross negligence was believed to have caused heavy casualties, it added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday night extended condolences over the deadly residential building fire and directed authorities to make all efforts to put out the blaze.
He immediately sought updates on the rescue efforts and casualties and instructed the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR to convey his condolences and sympathies to HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee.
Xi directed the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the liaison office to support the HKSAR government in making all-out efforts to put out the fire, do everything possible in search and rescue, treat the injured, and comfort the victims' families, Xinhua reported.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
