Almost 300 pets have been rescued from the deadly inferno that engulfed a Hong Kong housing estate last week, including fish, parrots and turtles, with a charity leader saying the rescue efforts have “strengthened her belief in humanity”.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said in a social media post that as of 8pm on Wednesday, 364 animals had been found since the fire, including 294 rescued alive and 70 discovered dead.
A total of 173 pets remained missing, bringing the estimated number of affected animals to over 537, according to the SPCA’s data, which combined information received from the Fire Services Department and various volunteers and groups.
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The latest update included fish and pet crabs rescued over the past two days, as well as one deceased cat.
The fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, which started last Wednesday, raged for 43 hours across seven of its eight blocks.
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Police said the Disaster Victim Identification Unit had since completed searches of all seven affected blocks and recovered the remains of three more victims, raising the total number of dead to 159.