Rescuers with flashlights went from apartment to apartment on Thursday through the charred towers of Wang Fuk Court, while thick smoke still poured from some windows. At least 94 people were dead. Hong Kong leader John Lee said contact had been lost with 279 more early that morning, and officials gave no update on them at a news conference later in the day.
The complex stands in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near the border with the mainland. Records show eight blocks holding almost 2,000 apartments and about 4,800 residents. It dates from the 1980s and was in the middle of a major renovation. Tai Po District Council member Lo Hiu-fung told TVB that most of those trapped were believed to be elderly.
How the fire spread
Officials said flames began on the outside scaffolding of a 32-story tower, then moved indoors and across to neighboring buildings, helped along by wind. Bamboo scaffolding wrapped the whole exterior of the complex. Seven of the eight buildings burned. By morning the fire services said four of the towers were under control.
The department raised the alarm to level 5, its highest, by nightfall on Wednesday. More than 140 fire trucks and more than 60 ambulances went to the scene. Fire chiefs said the heat made rescue work hard.
“Our firefighting operation is almost complete,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Services Operations. Crews were trying to stop debris and embers from flaring again, he said. “What’s next is the search and rescue operation.”
At least 70 people were injured, 11 of them firefighters, many with burns or smoke inhalation. About 900 residents spent the night in temporary shelters. One of the dead was a 37-year-old firefighter who had served nine years. Fire Services Director Andy Yeung said in a news release: “All of our colleagues are deeply saddened by the loss of such a devoted comrade.” Xi Jinping sent condolences, according to CCTV.
Arrests
Police arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter. They are aged 52 to 68, and they are directors of a construction company and an engineering consultant. “We have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent,” said Eileen Chung, a senior superintendent of police.
Investigators found highly flammable foam outside the windows on each floor by the elevator lobby of the one tower that escaped the fire. They believe a construction company put it there. Authorities also suspect some exterior wall materials failed fire-resistance standards, since the speed of the spread was unusual.
It was later determined that none of the fire alarms in the eight towers had gone off. Residents said they had complained in 2023 about the safety nets, foam boards and smoking on site, and that nothing changed. The Labour Department had inspected the site 16 times since July 2024, the last visit a week before the fire.
The toll climbed well past the early figure, to 168 dead and 79 injured in later counts. Before this, Hong Kong’s worst recent blaze was in November 1996, when 41 people died in a Kowloon commercial building during a level 5 fire that burned for around 20 hours.
Sources
- Fire in Hong Kong high-rise complex kills at least 94 people, hundreds reported missing; 3 arrested
- Wang Fuk Court fire – Wikipedia
