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HONG KONG has suffered its deadliest fire in decades after a ferocious blaze tore through a high-rise housing estate in Tai Po, killing at least 44 people and leaving a further 279 missing, as emergency crews continued hauling residents from burning buildings into Thursday morning.
Local media reported that police had arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter as investigators probed how a fire that began on external scaffolding of a 32-storey block at Wang Fuk Court was able to engulf seven of the estate’s eight towers with such speed.
Built in the 1980s and undergoing renovation, the complex houses nearly 4,800 residents, many of them elderly.
Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung said officers had found foam sheets that were “highly flammable”, noting that the rapid spread was unusual and that investigators would examine whether materials on the exterior walls met required fire-resistance standards.
Officials said scaffolding and construction netting appeared to have acted as a conduit for flames, which were fanned by strong winds.
AP reported today that by dawn, the death toll had climbed to 44, with at least 29 others still in hospital and hundreds displaced.
Bright jets of flame erupted from windows as thick smoke billowed into the night sky, while more than 900 residents were evacuated to temporary shelters.
A 37-year-old firefighter was among the dead, Yeung confirmed, while another was treated for heat exhaustion.
“Debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings (is) falling down,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of fire service operations.
“The temperature inside the buildings concerned is very high. It’s difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations.”
Fire Services officials said the inferno was raised to a level 5 alarm, the highest category, shortly after nightfall as conditions worsened.
Almost 200 fire engines and more than 100 ambulances were deployed, according to public broadcaster RTHK, with firefighters directing water onto the upper storeys from ladder trucks and responding to “numerous” calls from trapped residents.
Among those fleeing the blaze was a woman who gave only her surname, Wu. “I’ve given up thinking about my property,” she told TVB. “Watching it burn like that was really frustrating.”
Chinese leader Xi Jinping issued condolences for the fallen firefighter and expressed sympathies to bereaved families, urging authorities to “minimise casualties and losses”, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, said the government would treat the disaster as an immediate priority and suspend public campaigning for the 7 December Legislative Council elections. He declined to say whether polling might be postponed, promising decisions “a few days later”.
Despite firefighters gaining partial control of three blocks shortly after midnight, vast plumes of smoke continued to rise into Thursday morning from the estate, situated near the border with Shenzhen.
District officials have opened shelters as teams of firefighters, police and paramedics continued their search.
The catastrophe is the territory’s worst blaze since 1996, when 41 people died in a commercial building fire in Kowloon that also reached level 5 severity.
The government has previously announced plans to phase out bamboo scaffolding on public projects because of safety concerns, though the traditional method remains widely used across the city. - November 27, 2025