Washington: Hong Kong search teams continued their efforts on Wednesday in a second round of operations to find 31 people still missing after a fire swept through a residential complex, resulting in 159 fatalities. Seventy-nine individuals, including 12 firefighters, were injured in the incident.

According to Anadolu Agency, an independent committee led by a judge will be established to investigate the deadly fire. Despite earlier speculation about a possible delay, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu confirmed that a Legislative Council election would proceed as planned on Sunday.

The fire, which occurred last week in Tai Po's Wang Fuk Court area, lasted for 43 hours and spread across seven residential blocks, affecting more than 1,900 apartments. Authorities attributed the rapid spread to highly flammable styrofoam and substandard mesh.

In response, Hong Kong authorities have mandated the removal of scaffolding mesh from 300 buildings by Saturday. The affected complex consists of eight towers housing over 4,000 residents. So far, 21 individuals have been arrested, including the main contractor, an engineering consultant, and a subcontractor associated with the scaffolding company.