The death toll in the massive fire that tore through a high-rise housing cluster in Hong Kong rose to 128 on Friday, with more bodies found. Firefighters were still going room to room in the blackened towers, on the third day of the tragedy, to look for the missing persons.
The blaze broke out on Wednesday afternoon in one of the buildings at the Wang Fuk Court complex in Tai Po, a dense northern suburb near the mainland border, spreading quickly across the housing cluster and leading to one of the worst such tragedies the city has seen in decades.
Officials believe the fire started on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting around one of the 32-storey buildings before racing upwards and then jumping across seven of the estate’s eight blocks. Windy conditions and the tightly packed structures are suspected to have accelerated the spread.
By Thursday, the complex resembled a dark shell. A video shared by authorities showed bright flames still flickering behind some windows, while rescue teams swept through flats using flashlights. Thick smoke continued to pour out of parts of the towers. Many residents were evacuated to temporary shelters overnight; others waited anxiously for updates. More than 70 people were injured, including 11 firefighters.
Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, said early Thursday that authorities had lost contact with 279 residents. Officials did not provide a fresh count of how many people were still unaccounted for during a later press briefing.
Derek Armstrong Chan, the deputy director of Fire Services Operations, said crews were now nearing the end of the active firefighting phase. “What’s next is the search and rescue operation,” he added.
Access to the towers was difficult, Chan said, because debris from the upper floors kept falling and parts of the scaffolding had collapsed. “Debris and scaffolding were falling from upper floors. There are also other reasons like high temperature, darkness … (and) emergency vehicle access was blocked by fallen scaffolding and debris, making our access to the building very difficult,” he told reporters.
The Vatican said Pope Leo XIV had sent a telegram to Hong Kong’s bishop, expressing sorrow and offering prayers for victims, their families and emergency workers.
Manslaughter arrests amid questions over renovation safety
As the scale of the destruction became clearer, Hong Kong police arrested three men, including directors and an engineering consultant linked to a construction company, on suspicion of manslaughter. “We have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent,” said Eileen Chung, a senior police superintendent.
Police officers on Thursday searched the office of Prestige Construction & Engineering Company. As per news agency Associated Press, the company had been handling renovation work at the complex. Boxes of documents were seized.
Scaffolding debate gathers urgency
The Wang Fuk Court estate, built in the 1980s and home to nearly 4,800 residents, had been undergoing major refurbishment. Much of the complex was wrapped in bamboo scaffolding, a common sight in Hong Kong despite repeated safety concerns. Authorities said they will now push for a shift to metal scaffolding.
Also Read: Hong Kong fire: How bamboo scaffolding fuelled the deadly high-rise blaze in Tai Po
A turning point for construction safety in Hong Kong?
Beyond the immediate disaster response, Thursday’s developments point to a deeper reckoning.
With Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency opening an inquiry, police arresting construction executives, and the government signalling a shift in scaffolding policy, the Wang Fuk Court fire is likely to trigger a broader review of building-site governance, enforcement gaps, and renovation practices in Hong Kong’s ageing housing stock.
For a city where bamboo scaffolding is part of the cultural and architectural landscape, the tragedy is now forcing uncomfortable questions about outdated safety norms and whether oversight has kept pace with urban density and rising renovation demand.