Hong Kong’s Deadliest Blaze in Decades Erupts at Building With Long-Standing Safety Warnings

28 November 2025

A man reacts, as smoke rises while flames engulf bamboo scaffolding across multiple buildings at Wang Fuk Court housing estate, in Tai Po, Hong Kong on November 26, 2025. Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

A catastrophic fire broke out on November 26, 2025, at Wang Fuk Court, a high-rise residential estate in Tai Po, Hong Kong, killing at least 128 people and leaving around 200 more unaccounted for after blazing through scaffolding-covered towers and engulfing multiple buildings under renovation.

The tragedy marks the worst residential fire in Hong Kong in nearly 80 years, a horror amplified by revelations that residents had repeatedly flagged major fire-safety risks in the months before the blaze. Complaints about flammable protective mesh, unsecured scaffolding and faulty fire-alarm systems had been dismissed by authorities as posing “relatively low fire risks.”

According to investigators, the fire spread with shocking speed. Flames ignited on bamboo scaffolding wrapped in green mesh and plastic coverings used during renovation, materials now suspected of failing fire safety standards. Once the exterior went up in flames, the fire raced inward, engulfing seven of the eight towers in the complex. Officials have arrested several individuals linked to the renovation contractor on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with alleged negligence.

The scale of the disaster has sparked grief and outrage across Hong Kong. Many of the residents who lived at Wang Fuk Court were elderly or vulnerable. Over a third were over the age of 65 far above the citywide average. With dozens of families separated and hundreds displaced, heartbreak mixes with rising anger at what many view as institutional failures in safeguarding residents.

Beyond the immediate loss and suffering, the fire has reignited scrutiny over the continued use of bamboo scaffolding and non-metal protective materials in construction across the city. Despite repeated warnings and similar smaller-scale fires earlier in 2025, many buildings under renovation continued using potentially hazardous materials, a practice now deeply questioned.

Residents’ prior alerts included reports of degradation in fire-hoses, faulty alarms, window-insulating foam sealing windows, and scaffolding mesh that looked dangerously combustible. According to public records reviewed by investigators, local authorities had conducted as many as 16 safety inspections between mid-2024 and late 2025, issuing multiple improvement orders to the renovation contractor yet many hazards remained unaddressed.

Some survivors and neighbours now openly compare the tragedy to infamous global high-rise disasters, calling out systemic negligence, inadequate regulation, and a fatal tolerance for risk. “They told us the mesh was safe,” one resident recalled. “We warned them. But nothing changed.”

Authorities say they will carry out a full criminal investigation alongside emergency inspections of other renovation sites across Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the city has launched relief efforts for survivors, temporary shelters for displaced residents, and a promise to review and possibly ban bamboo scaffolding or flammable renovation materials in future work.

Still, many remain unconvinced that policy changes alone can prevent future tragedies. For families grieving lost loved ones, no regulatory reform can erase the shock of the blaze, the horror of loved ones trapped behind charred windows, or the anguish of unanswered good-night messages from evacuations that never came.

The fire at Wang Fuk Court stands as a painful reminder that building codes, renovation oversight, and resident safety cannot be compromised especially when dense housing and vulnerable populations are involved. Hong Kong’s skyline may be modern, but the disaster exposes how quickly tradition, cost-cutting, and regulatory gaps can turn living towers into death traps.