Hong Kong has suffered its deadliest fire in decades. Survivors are asking how it was allowed to happen

Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades

Residents of Hong Kong are reeling after a fierce blaze tore through the Wang Fuk Court public housing complex in Tai Po, becoming the city’s deadliest fire in many years. Survivors and families of the missing are demanding to know how the disaster unfolded so quickly and whether more could have been done to prevent it.

How the fire spread

At about 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, roughly half an hour after a witness first saw a growing fire in one of the eight residential towers at Wang Fuk Court, flames had already leaped to neighboring buildings. All of the affected towers were under renovation and wrapped in bamboo scaffolding, which helped the fire race up the 31‑story structures as charred poles crashed to the ground.

Over the following hours, the complex, home to more than 4,000 residents including many elderly people, was rapidly engulfed. Commuters and neighbors returning from work or school stopped in shock, watching the orange glow spread across the estate as daylight faded.

Human impact and loss

At least 94 people have been confirmed dead, making this one of the worst fire disasters in Hong Kong’s modern history, and hundreds of residents remain unaccounted for. Many survivors have lost their homes and possessions, and have been forced to seek refuge in temporary shelters set up by authorities.

One resident, identified only by his surname Wan, grabbed his two dogs and his wallet before escaping down a stairwell filled with the smell of gas. Soon after he fled, the blaze was upgraded to a Level 4 incident, the second‑highest alarm on the city’s five‑tier scale.

Emergency shelters and survivor voices

Wan and his wife spent the night in an emergency shelter established in a sports center, alongside hundreds of others waiting anxiously for news. Volunteers and staff there distributed food and drinks while residents tried to process the scale of what they had lost.

“There’s no home to return to,” Wan told CNN from the converted sports center. “We have lost everything, not even clothes.”

These testimonies have reinforced public concern that residents were left highly exposed despite living in regulated public housing.

Questions about safety and prevention

The speed with which the fire moved between towers has renewed scrutiny of renovation practices and the use of bamboo scaffolding around occupied buildings. Survivors and observers are asking whether safety rules, inspections, and evacuation procedures were sufficient for such a dense residential complex undergoing construction.

Authorities now face growing pressure to explain how the fire was able to reach such intensity before residents fully realized the danger, and why so many people were unable to escape in time. Investigations are expected to focus on building materials, fire‑control systems, alarm responses, and the balance between renovation work and resident safety.

Author’s summary: Survivors of Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades describe a fire racing up scaffolded towers, leaving at least 94 dead and intensifying public anger over safety failures and prevention.

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CNN CNN — 2025-11-27

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