November 30, 2025 / 8:23 AM EST / AP
The death toll from a blaze that gutted part of the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Hong Kong climbed to 146 on Sunday as investigators working inside the burned buildings uncovered more bodies. A growing makeshift memorial at the site drew a steady stream of mourners leaving flowers, notes and prayers for victims of one of the city’s worst peacetime disasters.
The Hong Kong police Disaster Victim Identification Unit has been methodically searching the complex’s buildings and has found remains in apartment units and on roofs, the officer in charge, Cheng Ka-chun, said. He described the search as slow and difficult because the interiors are very dark, making access and recovery challenging. So far the team has inspected four of the complex’s seven blocks, Cheng said.
Tsang Shuk-yin, head of the police casualty unit, said the latest searches recovered another 30 bodies, including 12 that firefighters had previously located but not yet retrieved. About 100 people remain unaccounted for and 79 have been reported injured, Tsang added.
At the scene, well-wishers knelt and bowed, left handwritten messages among floral tributes, and donated clothes and supplies for those who lost everything in the fire, which began Wednesday and was not fully extinguished until Friday. “This really serves as a wake-up call for everyone, especially with these super high-rise buildings,” said Lian Shuzheng, who stood in a long line to lay flowers.
The Wang Fuk Court complex in Tai Po comprises eight 31-story buildings constructed in the 1980s, with nearly 2,000 apartments and more than 4,600 residents. All eight towers had been wrapped in bamboo scaffolding covered with nylon netting for renovations; windows were boarded with polystyrene foam panels. Authorities are probing whether safety rules were breached.
Hong Kong officials late Saturday ordered immediate suspension of work on 28 building projects handled by the same contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering Company (PC&E), pending safety audits. The government said the five-alarm fire exposed serious deficiencies in PC&E’s site safety, including widespread use of foam boards to seal windows during repairs. The company did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Three men — two company directors and an engineering consultant tied to a construction firm — were arrested the day after the fire on suspicion of manslaughter; police said they suspected gross negligence but did not name the firm. They were released on bail and later rearrested by anti-corruption authorities, who have since detained an additional eight people, including scaffolding subcontractors, directors of an engineering consulting firm and renovation project managers.
Preliminary inquiries indicate the fire started Wednesday afternoon on the lower-level scaffolding netting of one tower and spread rapidly after the foam panels ignited and windows blew out, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang said. Strong winds helped the flames leap between buildings, and within hours seven of the eight towers were ablaze. Fire Services Director Andy Yeung said tests found some alarm systems in the complex — which housed many elderly residents — did not sound.
Many displaced residents are now in short-term emergency shelters or hotels while authorities work on longer-term housing solutions. “It’s heartbreaking,” said Jeffery Chan, a civil servant who paid his respects. “Seeing people in the place where we live lose their families, lose everything in just one night — if you put yourself in their shoes, it is unbearable.”
The victims include seven Indonesian migrant workers, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said, and one Filipina domestic helper; dozens remain unaccounted for among those nationalities, the Philippines Consulate General said. On Sunday, several hundred Filipinos gathered in central Hong Kong to pray and sing hymns in tribute.
Beijing’s Ministry of Emergency Management announced a nationwide inspection of high-rise buildings to identify and remove fire hazards, citing concerns about bamboo scaffolding, non-flame-retardant safety nets and the condition of firefighting facilities such as hydrant systems, sprinklers and automatic alarms.
The Wang Fuk Court blaze is the deadliest building fire in Hong Kong since a 1948 warehouse fire that killed 176 people. The city’s deadliest recorded fire remains the 1918 Race Course Fire, which claimed more than 600 lives.
