Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades had barely been extinguished when the city’s authorities began working to contain
something else: public anger at the government.
National security police have arrested at least two people for demanding more government accountability in the blaze
that engulfed seven apartment towers and killed at least 159 people, with another 31 people unaccounted for on
One of the people arrested was Kenneth Cheung, a former elected district official who posted criticism on Facebook of
the authorities’ response to the fire, which started last Wednesday and lasted more than 24 hours. He was accused of
inciting hatred against the government online. The other was Miles Kwan, a 24-year-old university student who handed out
fliers near the fire site calling for an independent probe into the disaster. The police declined to comment on their