Fire extinguished at Hong Kong residential complex as death toll hits 94

The fire at Hong Kong's Wang Fuk Court residential complex has been fully extinguished, with search and rescue efforts still underway across the burnt buildings, according to the Fire Services Department early Friday.

The death toll in the residential complex fire has risen to 94, the Fire Services Department said early Friday.

The fire broke out in Wang Fuk Court, a residential area in Tai Po of Hong Kong, on Wednesday afternoon. The residential complex consists of eight residential buildings, and the fire once spread from one building to seven others.

Three executives of a construction company responsible for the renovation of the buildings have been arrested for suspected manslaughter, according to the Hong Kong Police Force on Thursday.

Fire extinguished at Hong Kong residential complex as death toll hits 94

Fire extinguished at Hong Kong residential complex as death toll hits 94

Fire extinguished at Hong Kong residential complex as death toll hits 94

Fire extinguished at Hong Kong residential complex as death toll hits 94

The U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against Iran since February 28 have inflicted irreparable damage on the country's priceless cultural heritage sites, according to Hassan Fartousi, secretary-general of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Fartousi said that 132 cultural heritage items have been attacked in recent strikes, emphasizing that the losses extend far beyond monetary valuation.

"Last night, I was told that 132 pieces [items] of our cultural heritage have been attacked, and it is really impossible to say how much the costs are, and it can be said that these (damaged cultural heritage items) are priceless and irreparable. How can these be defined?" Fartousi said.

Among the most severely affected sites is the Golestan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2013.

Fartousi said that about 40 percent of the palace's historic mirror works, dating back nearly 220 years to the Qajar period, have been damaged.

"Unfortunately, in Golestan Palace, there are almost 40 percent of the mirror works [that] have been damaged which belong to almost 220 years ago, the Qajar period. The same situation [occurred] in the Saad Abad complex [in] which the Green Palace [was] attacked in a way which the specialists were telling me very sadly that it may not be possible to repair some of the damages," he said.

The Golestan Palace complex, selected as the royal residence and seat of power by the Qajar ruling family in the 19th century, has been described by UNESCO as "a masterpiece of the Qajar era, embodying the successful integration of earlier Persian crafts and architecture with Western influences."

The Saad Abad complex, a sprawling former royal compound in northern Tehran, encompasses an extensive park with multiple buildings now serving as museums dedicated to Iran's cultural history. The official residence of Iran's president is located adjacent to the site.

U.S.-Israeli airstrikes cause irreparable damage to Iran's cultural heritage sites: UNESCO official