A massive fire in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district has killed 36 people, making it the city’s deadliest blaze in 30 years, with bamboo scaffolding suspected to have started the fire.
Hong Kong Building Fire (Photo Credits: ANI)
Thirty-six were killed, while several were injured, and 279 were still missing after seven high-rise residential towers caught fire in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Wednesday, according to the BBC.
Hong Kong chief executive John Lee has briefed the press that 36 people have died in the fire in Tai Po, with at least 279 people not accounted for. As per the latest update, the fire has been doused in three buildings, while signs of fire are seen in four buildings, Lee said in press briefing.
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“More than 800 firefighters and paramedics, with 140 fire engines have been deployed to deal with the blaze,” BBC quoted Lee.
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Lee also said that out of the seven buildings that were ablaze earlier, three were now not showing any signs of flames. He informed that four buildings showed “disparate signs of fire”
Authorities have opened temporary shelters for affected residents.
A care team member told South China Morning Post that CCC Fung Leung Kit Memorial Secondary School has been converted into a temporary shelter and has sufficient supplies on its premises.
The New York Times, a few hours back reported that the impacted buildings were covered in bamboo scaffolding—a common feature in Hong Kong’s construction and renovation work. Bamboo scaffolding is more flammable than the metal scaffolding used in many other major cities.
According to visuals, bright flames engulfed the towers, damaging multiple floors, with thick black smoke emanating into the sky.
Among those killed is a firefighter who lost his life while battling the blaze, Hong Kong’s fire department confirmed to the BBC.
The incident occurred in the northeastern part of the city’s New Territories, triggering a significant emergency response as firefighters worked to control the blaze.
The firefighters are still working to stop the blaze.
Major fire has broken out in multiple buildings at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, Hong Kong (26.11.2025) pic.x.com/ZUkCsbFJaG
— Disaster News (@Top_Disaster) November 26, 2025
The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s northern Tai Po district. The residential complex houses around 4,600 people across nearly 2,000 flats and was undergoing renovation at the time the blaze started.
Authorities have classified the incident as a Level 5 fire, the most serious category.
Former district councillor Herman Yiu Kwan-ho told local media earlier that at least 13 people remain stuck inside the buildings. Police have evacuated nearby residential blocks, set up a casualty hotline, and the government has opened temporary shelters for displaced residents.
ANI quoting CNN said that the blaze was reported at 2:51 pm (local time), and by the time firefighters arrived, the bamboo scaffolding surrounding the complex was already engulfed, spreading fire inside the building and outward to adjacent towers, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong Fire Department, Chan Derek Armstrong informed.
In an inspiring gesture, the website of the Fire Services Department of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region switched to black and white after a firefighter was killed on Wednesday while he was fighting the deadly blaze that engulfed multiple residential buildings in Hong Kong’s Tai Po.
Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung said the deceased firefighter, a 37-year-old surnamed Ho, belonged to the Sha Tin Fire Station and was dispatched to the scene at 3.01 pm.
As firefighters tackled the deadly Tai Po blaze at Wang Fuk Court, a separate fire erupted near Wong Shiu Chi Secondary School. The second fire prompted another emergency response, HKFP reported.
The school is approximately 500 metres away from Wang Fuk Court, where a massive fire has left at least 13 dead. The sites are separated by the Tai Po River.
Firefighters were informed about the new blaze by residents on top of a footbridge near Wang Fuk Court.
767 firefighters, 400 police officers, 128 fire engines and 57 ambulances were deployed to tackle Wednesday’s deadly fire at a Tai Po residential complex, the Fire Services Department has told reporters in Hong Kong.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday extended condolences over a deadly residential building fire in Hong Kong, which killed at least 13 people, Xinhua reported (when the death toll was 13)
HKFP reported that Chinese President Xi urged Hong Kong on Wednesday to “make every effort” to extinguish a huge blaze at a residential estate that killed at least 13 people and to minimise casualties and losses, state media had said hours back.
In a late-night statement, Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office told Xinhua that President Xi is deeply concerned about the fire and has ordered to support the local government in tackling the blaze and managing its consequences, providing all necessary help to mitigate the damage.
The Education University of Hong Kong, located in Tai Po, stated in an email obtained by South China Morning Post that staff will arrange classes via Zoom on Thursday.
This arrangement is a reply to “uncertain traffic conditions” prompted by Wednesday’s fire at Wang Fuk Court and concerns over whether students and teaching staff could arrive on campus in time for classes.
Meanwhile , HKFP reported on X , “owing to the deadly Tai Po blaze and related road closures, schools including CCC Fung Leung Kit Memorial Secondary School, Tai Po Baptist Public School, S.K.H. Yuen Chen Maun Chen Primary School, Ling Liang Church M H Lau Secondary School, H.K. & Kowloon Kaifong Women’s Association Sun Fong Chung College and Po Leung Kuk Tin Ka Ping Millennium Primary School will see classes suspended on Thursday, authorities have said.”
Firefighting efforts were deterred by extremely high temperatures inside the buildings. Consequently, the Fire Services Department had to deploy steel ladder trucks to spray water on the structures.
The Wednesday’s fire is touted to be Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in nearly 30 years, according to CNN. A massive fire tragedy occurred in 1997, when 17 people were killed in a karaoke bar blaze. Another fire took place in 2011 in Fa Yuen Street claiming nine lives. Authorities continue to fight the fire and look for survivors as the death toll may escalate further, as per ANI.
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