Hong Kong
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During the 30 minutes the fire spread and engulfed an adjacent building, Wang was watching TV at home, unaware of the danger. Even though he could hear a commotion outside and sirens wailing in the distance, he dismissed it as a typical noisy afternoon in Hong Kong.
Only after hearing people screaming for help did he stand up and look out the window of his eighth-floor apartment. “As soon as I opened the window, I saw smoke,” he told CNN.
By that time, it was 3:15pm on a Wednesday. It was 30 minutes after witnesses first noticed the fire raging in one of the eight residential towers that make up the Wangfu Court public housing complex.
Firefighters arrived on the scene, but the fire had already spread to other high-rise buildings, all of which were being renovated and covered with bamboo scaffolding, a traditional building material. The 32-story skyscraper was in flames, and a burnt utility pole collapsed from its exterior wall.
Wang, identified by CNN by his last name, grabbed his two dogs and his wallet and ran down a gas-smelling fire escape. Just minutes after he was evacuated, the fire was declared a Level 4, the second-highest of five alert levels.
For the next few hours, horrified onlookers watched as the complex, home to more than 4,000 people, many of them elderly, was rapidly engulfed in flames. People walking home from work or school stood clutching briefcases and backpacks, staring at the flickering orange color as the sunlight waned.
By nightfall, the scale of the devastation became clear. The maximum level 5 alert for the fire was issued around 6 p.m. Community chat groups buzzed with activity as families desperately tried to locate their loved ones. News channels broadcast footage that shocked Hong Kong, a wealthy city with a strong track record on building safety.
As residents grappled with the speed of spread of the fire, which consumed seven of the complex’s eight buildings within hours, they cited concerns about construction safety, silenced fire alarms and an expensive renovation project, raising serious questions about whether the disaster could have been prevented.
Three people have been arrested so far, and a criminal investigation and anti-corruption investigation have been launched as the government faces mounting public pressure to answer questions.
Wang and his wife were among hundreds of other residents desperately waiting for news after spending the night at an emergency shelter.
“I don’t have a home to go to,” he told CNN from a sports center that had been turned into an evacuation center, as volunteers and staff wandered around handing out food and drinks.
“We don’t have anything, not even clothes.”
questions and investigations
At least 128 people are known to have died in the fire, the deadliest death toll in decades for the city of about 7.5 million people. Many others are still missing, and the toll is expected to rise as the grueling search for burned-out apartments continues.
Residents are enduring an agonizing wait for news, but some say there were early warning signs calling for action.
A Facebook group that describes itself as a community forum for residents of Wang Fu Court shows that it had already raised concerns about the construction netting material as early as October last year, more than a year ago. Several posts include residents sharing what they said were complaints filed with the Department of Labor about possible fire hazards. One post claimed that the Ministry of Labor had issued a warning to the contractor following an unannounced site inspection.
In a statement sent to CNN, the Ministry of Labor said it conducted 16 safety inspections at Wang Fu Court between July 2024 and November 2025, “including a review of whether the protective sheets installed on the scaffolding at Wang Fu Court (commonly known as ‘scaffold nets’) have product certification that meets the ministry’s requirements.”
“The most recent inspection was carried out on November 20th, after which the ministry once again issued a written warning to the contractor of the need to take appropriate fire safety measures,” the ministry said.
Hong Kong bamboo scaffolding safety regulations require all scaffolding netting to be flame retardant. Although this Code is not a law, failure to comply may have implications for criminal proceedings.
CNN attempted to contact the construction companies involved through several associated email addresses and phone numbers, but did not receive a response.
Authorities and police also said it is suspected that construction materials found in the apartment, including protective netting, canvas and plastic covers, did not meet safety standards. Polystyrene sheets, a highly flammable material, were also found blocking the windows of several apartments, and Wang said she had previously noticed them inside the stairs of her building.
Other residents also told CNN they were concerned about the speed of evacuations and the reliability of fire alarms. One resident on Wednesday night, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities did not knock and tell people to evacuate when a fire broke out in a nearby block.
Another resident, Au, 40, said his family smelled the fire and heard the bamboo scaffolding burning and falling off the walls, but the building’s alarm did not go off.
Hong Kong’s statutory anti-corruption body, the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission, announced on Thursday that it has set up an expert committee to investigate potential corruption related to the renovation work at Wang Fu Courthouse.
Separately, city leaders announced Thursday that all housing complexes undergoing major renovations will be inspected for safety.
The fire struck a neighborhood beloved by many for its abundance of pedestrian streets, wide bike paths, and nearby hiking trails.
Wang Fuk Court is part of the government’s public housing program, which aims to rent or sell affordable housing at deep discounts to low-income families.
Hong Kong consistently ranks as one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world, and even a small apartment far from the city center can eat up half your monthly salary, making these public housing highly desirable. Demand is so high that there are often years-long waiting lists for apartments.
As of 2024, nearly 45% of the city’s population lives in some form of public housing. That’s more than 3.3 million people, many of whom rely on this program for their livelihood.
The full extent of the damage is not yet clear, but hundreds or thousands of people may have been left homeless after the fire.
Compounding the blow is the fact that many of the residents of the burned-down buildings are elderly, reflecting Hong Kong’s rapidly aging population as birth rates decline. According to government and real estate agency data, the largest age group at Wang Fu Court is residents aged 65 and older.
Mr. Wang and his wife are in their 40s and live in an apartment originally purchased by their parents. But most of his neighbors are much older, he said. He said the youngest new buyers of the complex are at least in their 60s.
One resident named Yuen said he was most worried about his parents. His parents are in their 70s and live in a separate apartment on the same floor as him and his wife. On Wednesday afternoon, Yuen rushed home from work after hearing the news, but was not allowed to enter the building.
I haven’t heard from my parents since then.
Another evacuee told CNN on Wednesday that he had lived in the neighborhood for decades but only bought an apartment in March. He spent eight months renovating his apartment, which cost him several thousand US dollars. He was preparing to move soon.
Now “it’s all burnt,” he said.
