US EditionHong Kong's deadliest fire in decades followed a year of safety complaints
Investigations focus on unsafe renovation materials after a fire killed at least 94 in the aged Wang Fuk Court complex, the deadliest Hong Kong blaze in nearly 80 years.
- Early on Nov 28, authorities said at least 94 people had died and dozens were unaccounted for after a fire that began Nov. 26 in a 32-storey building spread to seven towers at Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po district, Hong Kong.
- Amid renovations, investigators homed in on green construction netting, polystyrene foam on windows, and bamboo scaffolding as likely conduits for the fire's rapid spread.
- Police arrested two directors and a consultant linked to Prestige Construction and Engineering, charging suspicion of manslaughter, and on Friday arrested eight more as Hong Kong's anti-corruption bureau launched a task force.
- The government announced a HK$300 million victims' fund, launched citywide inspections of housing estates under renovation, and reported more than 70 hospitalized as firefighters continued search-and-rescue.
- Amid rising public anger over safety oversight, the government announcement earlier in 2025 to phase out netting for steel scaffolding will likely accelerate amid questions of corruption, political fallout, and calls for accountability.
64 Articles
64 Articles
KHQ Right Now
Stunned mourners gather outside ruins of Hong Kong housing estate blaze
Hong Kong restaurant owner Vinchi Chan took his five-year-old daughter to the charred ruins of Wang Fuk Court on Saturday, where they joined thousands of others mourning those lost in the city's deadliest fire in almost 80 years.
Associated Press News
Authorities probe corruption and negligence in Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades
Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades is raising questions about corruption and negligence in the renovations of the apartment complex where at least 128 people died.
Visual timeline: How Hong Kong’s worst blaze in decades raged out of control
In just a few short hours on Wednesday afternoon, what began as a small fire on the first floor of an apartment building swelled into a raging inferno that consumed seven high-rise towers on a Hong Kong public housing estate.
Hong Kong's anti-corruption agency said Friday it had arrested eight people in connection with a high-rise fire that killed at least 128 people and is already being called the world's deadliest building fire since 1980.
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