Dozens Dead, Hundreds Missing in Hong Kong’s Deadliest Fire in Decades

A devastating fire that swept through a high-rise housing complex in Hong Kong has claimed at least 44 lives and left 279 people missing, marking the territory’s deadliest blaze in decades. The fire, which began Wednesday afternoon in the Wang Fuk Court complex in Tai Po district, continued to burn through the night with rescue operations extending into Thursday morning.

Police have arrested three men—two directors and an engineering consultant from a construction company—on suspicion of manslaughter. Senior Superintendent Eileen Chung stated authorities “have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent.”

The fire spread with alarming speed across seven of the eight residential towers in the complex, prompting suspicions that materials on the exterior walls failed to meet fire resistance standards. Investigators discovered highly flammable Styrofoam materials installed outside windows near lift lobbies in the one unaffected tower.

“The rapid spread of the fire was unusual,” a fire department official noted. Windy conditions likely accelerated the blaze, which began on external scaffolding of a 32-story tower before spreading inside and to adjacent buildings.

Forty of the fatalities were pronounced dead at the scene. The disaster also injured at least 62 people, many suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. Among the dead was a 37-year-old firefighter, while another firefighter received treatment for heat exhaustion.

Fire Chief Andy Yeung described extraordinary challenges facing rescue teams. “Debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings are falling down,” he said. “The temperature inside the buildings is very high, making it difficult for us to enter and conduct firefighting and rescue operations.”

Authorities deployed approximately 200 fire vehicles and 100 ambulances to the scene, with about 900 residents evacuated to temporary shelters established by Tai Po district officials.

“I’ve given up thinking about my property,” a resident who identified herself only as Wu told local TV station TVB. “Watching it burn like that was really frustrating.”

The Wang Fuk Court complex, built in the 1980s, comprises eight buildings containing nearly 2,000 apartments and houses approximately 4,800 residents, including many elderly people. The property was undergoing major renovations at the time of the fire, with bamboo scaffolding—a common sight in Hong Kong construction—surrounding much of the exterior.

The Hong Kong government had earlier this year announced plans to phase out bamboo scaffolding in public projects due to safety concerns. This disaster may accelerate those efforts and prompt stricter regulations for private buildings as well.

By Thursday morning, firefighters had brought the blaze “under control” in four of the affected buildings, but continued battling flames in the others.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping expressed condolences for the firefighter who died and extended sympathies to victims’ families. He urged authorities to minimize casualties and damage.

The scale of the disaster has prompted Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee to announce a pause in public efforts related to the upcoming December 7 elections for the Legislative Council. Lee indicated decisions about potentially delaying the elections would come “a few days later.”

This tragedy represents Hong Kong’s deadliest fire since November 1996, when 41 people died in a commercial building blaze in Kowloon that burned for approximately 20 hours.

As daylight returned to Tai Po on Thursday, emergency crews continued the grim task of searching for survivors and recovering victims while investigators began the process of determining precisely how such a catastrophic fire could spread so rapidly through a residential complex.