Hong Kong authorities raised the death toll of this week’s deadly fire at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex to 128 as rescue operations reach its end.
The conflagration broke on Wednesday afternoon (local time) at an eight-tower apartment complex in Tai Po that was undergoing renovations at the time of the accident. Preliminary reports indicate that authorities discovered that highly flammable styrofoam used in the renovations caused the fire to spread rapidly throughout seven of the eight buildings. Firefighting efforts reportedly extended for over 43 hours.
The exact cause of the fire has still not been publicly determined.
Hong Kong’s security chief Chris Tang announced the end of search and rescue operations on Friday morning, confirming that the death toll now stands at 128 — including 37-year old firefighter Ho Wai-ho, who died trying to contain the deadly fires. International media have cataloged the fire as the deadliest since 1948’s Wing On warehouse fire in Sai Wan that killed 176 people.
“The alarm was all off because of the renovation of the outside. So there is no alarm to let all the people know. Many old people, elderly people, they were all having an afternoon sleep. So nobody knew,” a woman identified as Ms. Lam told Sky News on Friday.
An infographic titled “Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades” created in Ankara, Turkiye on November 28, 2025. (Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty)
“Once they know the fire has already burned down everything, and they cannot escape, they were all trapped in the house. This is a disaster, actually,” she continued. Her father survived the fire.
The densely-packed residential complex housed some 2,000 apartments. Between 4,500 and 4,800 individuals reportedly resided in the apartments.
Reports from the South China Morning Post (SCMP) indicate there are 16 bodies still in the buildings, and the status of at least 200 people remains unclear. The fire also left 79 injured, including 11 firefighters.
The BBC reported that officials found that the fire alarms in all eight buildings were not working correctly. Residents of the burned buildings reportedly denounced that the alarms did not go off when the fire broke out.
Police Officers had previously arrested two directors and an engineering consultant of Prestige Construction & Engineering Co Limited, the company contracted to perform the renovations on the buildings, charging them with manslaughter and accusing them of “gross negligence” for using unsafe building materials. Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) announced that it will launch a corruption investigation over the incident.
On Friday morning, ICAC announced the arrest of two senior figures from Will Power Architects Company Limited, a consulting firm responsible for overseeing the maintenance work.
