Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee speaks during a press conference with a darken screen in the aftermath of a deadly fire in Hong Kong on December 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Hong Kong on Saturday (November 29, 2025) mourned the 128 people known to have died in a massive fire at a high-rise apartment complex, a toll that is likely to rise with 200 others still unaccounted for days after the disaster.

Authorities have arrested 11 people in connection with the city’s worst blaze in nearly 80 years as they investigate possible corruption and the use of unsafe materials during renovations at the Wang Fuk Court complex.

Rescue operations at the site in the district of Tai Po, near the border with mainland China, concluded on Friday, though police say they may find more bodies as they search the burnt-out buildings as part of ongoing investigations.

The fire started on Wednesday afternoon and rapidly engulfed seven of the eight 32-storey blocks at the complex, which were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh and layered with foam insulation for the renovations.

Search for bodies continues

Authorities have said the fire alarms at the estate, home to more than 4,600 people, had not been working properly.

Hong Kong leader John Lee, other officials and civil servants, all dressed in black, stood in silence for three minutes early on Saturday outside the central government offices, where flags were lowered to half-mast.

Condolence books have been set up at 18 points around the former British colony for the public to pay their respects.

“Our most heartfelt thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones and with those that are now living with shock and uncertainty,” Britain’s King Charles said in a statement about the “appalling tragedy”.

At Wang Fuk Court, police officers from the disaster victim identification unit, wearing white overalls, helmets and oxygen masks, entered one of the charred buildings to continue their search for remains.

They climbed over mounds of bamboo scaffolding that had fallen during the disaster and around large puddles of water created after firemen doused the buildings for days to try to lower the temperatures inside.

Families and mourners gathered to lay flowers while some faced the grim task of looking at photographs of the dead taken by rescue workers. Authorities said on Friday that only 39 of the 128 dead had been identified.

Hong Kong’s Lee has said the government would set up a HK$300 million ($40 million) fund to help residents while some of China’s biggest listed companies have pledged donations.

Hundreds of volunteers have also mobilised to help the victims, sorting and distributing items from diapers to hot food.

They formed teams to collect, transport and distribute goods in round-the-clock shifts and have set up a sprawling support camp for displaced residents beside a shopping mall across from the complex.

Domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines were also caught up in the tragedy. Hong Kong has around 368,000 such workers, mostly women from low-income Asian countries who live with their employers, often in cramped spaces.

Indonesia said six of its citizens died in the incident. The Philippines said one of its nationals is critically injured, another is confirmed missing, and 28 are thought to be residents of the area but their whereabouts are unknown.

Deadliest blaze since 1948

The fire is Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948, when 176 people died in a warehouse blaze, and has prompted comparisons to London’s Grenfell Tower inferno, which killed 72 people in 2017.

Residents of Wang Fuk Court were told by authorities last year that they faced “relatively low fire risks” after complaining repeatedly about fire hazards posed by ongoing renovation, the city’s Labour Department told Reuters.

The residents had raised concerns in September 2024, including about the potential flammability of the protective green mesh contractors had used to cover the bamboo scaffolding, a department spokesperson said.

Hong Kong’s anti-graft body said it had arrested eight people on Friday including an engineering consultant, a scaffolding subcontractor and an intermediary.

Earlier, police arrested two directors and an engineering consultant of Prestige Construction, a firm identified by the government as doing maintenance on Wang Fuk Court for more than a year, on suspicion of manslaughter for using unsafe materials, including flammable foam boards blocking windows.

Prestige did not answer repeated calls for comment.

Public anger over the fire has so far been muted, a stark contrast to mass pro-democracy protests of 2019 that prompted Beijing to tighten its grip on the city.

Yet some frustrated volunteers handed out flyers near the estate on Friday, demanding proper resettlement of affected residents, an overhaul of government oversight of construction projects, and an independent probe into the blaze.

As with other major fire incidents like Grenfell, analysts say pressure for answers may quickly spread beyond the construction firms to government regulators.

The Hong Kong government has traditionally staged open inquiries into large-scale tragedies, often headed by an independent judge.

Published – November 29, 2025 01:13 pm IST

Hong Kong fire authorities said they expected to wrap up search and rescue operations after the city’s worst fire in nearly 80 years tore through a massive apartment complex on Friday, killing at least 94 people and leaving dozens still missing.

Firefighters had mostly contained the blaze that destroyed the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in the northern district of Tai Po. The eight-tower estate housing more than 4,600 people had been undergoing renovations and was wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh when the fire started and quickly spread on Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters said they were hoping to wrap up search and rescue operations at the still-smoldering complex on Friday morning.

“We’ll endeavour to effect forcible entry to all the units of the seven buildings, so as to ensure there are no other possible casualties,” Deputy Fire Services Director Derek Chan told reporters early on Friday.

It was unclear how many people remained missing or trapped. Hong Kong leader John Lee said contact had been lost with 279 people early on Thursday. Authorities did not provide updates on the missing people or how many were still inside the ravaged buildings on Thursday during a press conference.

Video showed rescuers searching in some apartments in the dark. Orange flames were still seen from inside several windows, though the whole complex was now largely a blackened ruin.

Firefighters have been trying to control the flames since midafternoon on Wednesday, when the fire was believed to have started in bamboo scaffolding and construction netting and then spread across seven of the complex’s eight buildings.

Chan said the blaze spread “exceptionally fast” across the towers, and emergency workers struggled to gain access inside.

“Debris and scaffolding were falling from upper floors,” he told reporters. “There are also other reasons like high temperature, darkness … (and) emergency vehicle access was blocked by fallen scaffolding and debris, making our access to the building very difficult.” More than 70 people were injured, including 11 firefighters, as well as the 94 killed, the Fire Services Department said. About 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters overnight.

Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram to Hong Kong’s bishop on Thursday, saying he was saddened by the fire and offering prayers for the injured, their families and emergency workers.

Resident Lawrence Lee was waiting for news about his wife, who he believed was still trapped in their apartment.

“When the fire started, I told her on the phone to escape. But once she left the flat, the corridor and stairs were all filled with smoke and it was all dark, so she had no choice but to go back to the flat,” he said, as he waited in one of the shelters overnight.

Winter and Sandy Chung, who lived in one of the towers, said they saw sparks fly around as they evacuated Wednesday afternoon. Although they were safe, they were worried about their home. “I couldn’t sleep the entire night,” Winter Chung, 75, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Three arrested on suspicion of manslaughter

Three men, the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company, were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. Police have not directly named the company where they work.

“We have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent,” said Eileen Chung, a senior superintendent of police.

Police on Thursday also searched the office of Prestige Construction & Engineering Company, which the AP confirmed was in charge of renovations in the tower complex. Police seized boxes of documents as evidence, according to local media. Phones for Prestige rang unanswered.

Authorities suspected some materials on the exterior walls of the high-rise buildings did not meet fire resistance standards, allowing the unusually fast spread of the fire.

Police also said they found plastic foam panels — which are highly flammable — attached to the windows on each floor near the elevator lobby of the one unaffected tower. It was believed to have been installed by the construction company but the purpose was not clear. Secretary for Security Chris Tang said they would investigate the materials further.

Buildings were covered in scaffolding

The housing complex consisted of eight buildings with almost 2,000 apartments for about 4,800 residents, including many older people. It was built in the 1980s and had been undergoing a major renovation. Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency said on Thursday it was launching a probe into possible corruption relating to the renovation project.

Officials said the fire started on the external scaffolding of a 32-story tower, then spread on the bamboo scaffolding and construction netting to the inside of the building and then to the other buildings, likely aided by windy conditions.

Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects, though Lee said officials will meet with industry representatives to discuss a switch to metal scaffolding amid safety concerns.

“While we know that bamboo scaffolding has a long history in Hong Kong, its flame retardancy is inferior to that of metal scaffolding. For safety reasons, the government believes that a complete switch to metal scaffolding should be implemented in suitable working environments,” said Eric Chan, the Chief Secretary for Administration.

Published – November 28, 2025 07:21 am IST

A general view shows the damaged towers of Wang Fuk Court housing estate, where a major fire engulfed bamboo scaffolding across multiple blocks, killing at least 44 people and leaving almost 300 missing, in Tai Po, Hong Kong, China, on November 27, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters