Chinese firms rush to pledge millions in fire rescue as Hong Kong fire death toll climbs to 55

Chinese backstage firms pledged tens of millions of dollars to enactment rescue and alleviation efforts aft a deadly residential occurrence successful Hong Kong killed astatine slightest 55 radical and near hundreds missing.

Alibaba Group and its affiliate Ant Group unneurotic committed 30 cardinal Hong Kong dollars to enactment occurrence alleviation efforts. Alibaba laminitis Jack Ma, 1 of the astir recognizable Chinese entrepreneurs, besides pledged $30 cardinal done his foundation instauration to supply exigency assistance to those affected.

Sportswear shaper Anta, which owns brands specified arsenic Jack Wolfskin and Fila, said it would donate HK$30 cardinal successful currency and equipment. Tencent Holdings, Xiaomi Corp and ByteDance each pledged HK$10 cardinal to assistance the rescue efforts and enactment victims of the blaze.

The question of donations followed comments from President Xi Jinping, who urged all-out efforts to trim casualties and rallied applicable authorities and parties to supply "necessary support."

Companies pledge millions to assistance Hong Kong occurrence rescue efforts

Chinese entrepreneurs person ramped up their charitable commitments successful caller years to heed Beijing's telephone to enactment societal responsibility before profits, amid tightened regulatory scrutiny of the backstage sector.

Xiaomi's co-founder, Lei Jun, has donated much than 1.7 cardinal yuan ($240 million) since launching his philanthropic foundation in 2019 to enactment cutting-edge exertion improvement and supply fiscal assistance to students from low-income families.

In 2021, Meituan's founder, Wang Xing, contributed shares worthy astir $2.3 billion to his philanthropic foundation, which promotes acquisition and technological research. ByteDance's Zhang Yiming has besides fixed distant parts of his fortune to charitable causes.

The occurrence connected Thursday is Hong Kong's deadliest since 1948, erstwhile a warehouse blaze killed 176 people.

The latest blaze tore done Wang Fuk Court, an eight-tower lodging artifact successful bluish Hong Kong lodging 4,600 radical successful 2,000 apartments, according to Reuters.

On Thursday morning, Reuters reported, citing authorities, that the occurrence successful 4 of the 7 affected blocks had been brought nether power astir a afloat time aft the occurrence began. Firefighters were inactive moving to incorporate the blaze successful the remaining areas.

Officials said the blaze whitethorn person started connected a conception of bamboo scaffolding encasing the complex, past dispersed to different buildings done the woody poles and protective netting — prompting nationalist scrutiny of the city's lodging standards.

Hong Kong's constabulary pointed to a "grossly negligent" operation institution that utilized protective mesh sheets and integrative that whitethorn not conscionable occurrence standards and foam worldly that is "highly inflammable." Three men from the operation institution person been arrested connected suspicion of "manslaughter."