The deadliest fire in Hong Kong in nearly eight decades has claimed at least 128 lives, with authorities warning the death toll will likely climb significantly. Another 150 people remain unaccounted for following the devastating blaze at a residential high-rise complex undergoing renovation. Police have detained 11 individuals on suspicion of corruption and using hazardous construction materials.
Emergency services completed their rescue mission at the Wang Fuk Court estate in Tai Po district, close to the mainland Chinese border, on Friday. However, law enforcement officials caution that additional victims may be discovered as they continue examining the fire-damaged structures in the weeks ahead.
The missing persons count was reduced from 200 to 150 after some families successfully made contact with relatives they had initially reported as disappeared.
Flames engulfed multiple towers
The fire ignited on Wednesday afternoon, rapidly consuming seven of the estate's eight 32-storey residential blocks. The towers had been covered with bamboo scaffolding, green protective netting and foam insulation as part of ongoing renovation work.
Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption has announced the arrest of three additional suspects. The individuals, aged between 52 and 68, were responsible for overseeing the contractor performing the renovation project at the complex. This brings the total number of arrests to 11.
Officials have confirmed that fire alarm systems at Wang Fuk Court, home to more than 4,600 residents, were not functioning properly when the blaze broke out.
Mainland China ordered a nationwide inspection of fire safety risks in tall buildings on Saturday, with particular focus on residential properties undergoing refurbishment.
Foreign domestic workers among casualties
Domestic helpers from Indonesia and the Philippines are among the victims. Hong Kong employs approximately 368,000 such workers, predominantly women from lower-income Asian nations who reside with their employers, frequently in cramped conditions.
Indonesian authorities confirmed seven of their nationals perished in the disaster. Philippine officials reported one citizen critically injured, another confirmed missing, while 28 others believed to live in the area could not be located.
Most fatal blaze since 1948
This fire represents Hong Kong's deadliest since 1948, when a warehouse fire killed 176 people. The tragedy has drawn comparisons to London's 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, which claimed 72 lives.
Wang Fuk Court residents were informed by authorities last year that they faced "relatively low fire risks" after raising concerns about fire hazards created by the renovation work, according to the city's Labour Department.
Residents voiced their worries in September 2024, including questions about the potential flammability of the green protective mesh contractors had installed to cover the bamboo scaffolding.
Hong Kong's Buildings Department suspended all operations at 28 projects managed by Prestige Construction on Saturday, the company identified by the government as responsible for maintaining Wang Fuk Court for over a year.
"Our most heartfelt thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones and with those that are now living with shock and uncertainty", Britain's King Charles said in a statement about the "appalling tragedy".
A spokesperson from China's national security office in Hong Kong stated on Saturday that the office supports the city government in severely punishing anyone who uses — the disaster to disrupt Hong Kong.