HONG KONG — 2025 · Major Tragedy

The Wang Fuk Court Fire — Flames Along the Scaffolding

Under InvestigationSources: ALast updated: 14 October 2026

At around 14:00 on 26 November 2025, a fire broke out on scaffolding erected for facade renovation at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Hong Kong's Tai Po district. Protective netting wrapped around the scaffolding and foam boards fitted over windows helped the flames spread rapidly from block to block. The fire, which reached five-alarm level, burned for about 44 hours. 168 people died, including one firefighter, and 79 were injured, making it Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades. It emerged that the buildings' fire alarms had not worked. Police and the anti-corruption agency ICAC arrested numerous people on suspicion of manslaughter and corruption, and an independent committee began examining the disaster. There has been no final conviction yet.

Date: 2025
Place: Tai Po, Wang Fuk Court, Hong Kong, HK
Category: Major Tragedy
Case Status: Under Investigation
Coordinates: 22.4500, 114.1700 ↗

Timeline of Events

26 November 2025, ~14:00Fire broke out on renovation scaffolding at Wang Fuk Court.
26-28 November 2025The five-alarm fire burned for about 44 hours.
November-December 2025The death toll reached 168; it emerged the alarm systems had not worked.

2 December 2025An independent committee was set up to examine the disaster.
January 2026Arrests in the manslaughter and corruption investigations reached 22.

Sources

CNN — Visual timeline of the Hong Kong fire edition.cnn.com ↗
HKFP — Over 750 firefighters deployed to Tai Po estate fire hongkongfp.com ↗
AP — Hong Kong Tai Po high-rise fire apnews.com ↗
Wikipedia — Wang Fuk Court fire en.wikipedia.org ↗
CNN
Hong Kong Free Press
Associated Press
Wikipedia (EN)

Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.