Death toll rises to 75, with 76 injured
Helen Davidson
Hong Kong police have alleged unsafe scaffolding and foam materials used during maintenance work may have been behind the rapid spread of a devastating fire at a group of residential tower blocks that has killed at least 75 people and left more than 250 missing.
Firefighters were still battling to reach people who could be trapped on the upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex on Thursday due to the intense heat and thick smoke generated by the fire.
On Thursday evening authorities said the death toll had reached 75, with 76 injured, including 11 firefighters, making it the deadliest Hong Kong fire in decades.
Fire service officials said blazes in four of the eight apartment blocks in the estate had been extinguished and that three fires were under control. One building was not affected.
Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, said in the early hours of Thursday that 279 people were unaccounted for, though firefighters said later that they had established contact with some of those people. Authorities have not updated the figure since. Lee said more than 900 people had sought refuge at temporary shelters overnight.
Updated at 10.10 EST
Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
As the scale of the tragedy becomes clearer, leaders around the world have turned to Hong Kong to offer condolences.
A “saddened” Pope Leo issued a statement sending “spiritual solidarity to all those suffering … especially the injured and the families who grieve”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also sent a message to his ally, China’s leader Xi Jinping, Russian media reported.
“We worked for so many years to buy the house,” James Tang tells my colleague Helen Davidson outside the towers.
“And now it’s gone up in flames.”
You can watch Helen’s report below:
Hong Kong apartment fires continue to burn as people rally to support survivors – videoShare
Updated at 10.57 EST
Death toll rises to 75, with 76 injuredHelen Davidson
Hong Kong police have alleged unsafe scaffolding and foam materials used during maintenance work may have been behind the rapid spread of a devastating fire at a group of residential tower blocks that has killed at least 75 people and left more than 250 missing.
Firefighters were still battling to reach people who could be trapped on the upper floors of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex on Thursday due to the intense heat and thick smoke generated by the fire.
On Thursday evening authorities said the death toll had reached 75, with 76 injured, including 11 firefighters, making it the deadliest Hong Kong fire in decades.
Fire service officials said blazes in four of the eight apartment blocks in the estate had been extinguished and that three fires were under control. One building was not affected.
Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, said in the early hours of Thursday that 279 people were unaccounted for, though firefighters said later that they had established contact with some of those people. Authorities have not updated the figure since. Lee said more than 900 people had sought refuge at temporary shelters overnight.
Updated at 10.10 EST
Helen Davidson
The community is reeling, and some are angry: police suspect the fire was caused by “grossly negligent” action.
Hong Kong police have alleged unsafe scaffolding and foam materials used during maintenance work may have been behind the rapid spread of the fire, and three people from the related construction company have been arrested. The Independent Commission Against Corruption has already announced a taskforce.
There have been long-running complaints about the renovation, including allegations the alarms were switched off months ago by construction workers, and that workers smoked on site.
There have also been broader concerns about the safety standards for the mesh used on sites. A video being widely shared on Thursday shows a local council member setting fire to a piece of green construction mesh and watching it quickly melt and burn.
By nightfall on Thursday, the surrounding area was still filled with people – emergency services, onlookers, neighbours, victims and their families. Outside a building the deceased were being identified, people left sobbing, clutching at each other. Some wore blankets over their heads to avoid the cameras.
People shelter at an evacuation centre, after a deadly fire broke out yesterday at Wang Fuk Court housing complex, in Hong Kong. Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Pastor Samson Wong, from the Cumberland Presbyterian church, was waiting with a crowd of volunteers to give emotional and psychological support to the families who have lost people.
“They have enough material supplies, but they need emotional support,” he said.
ShareCity’s parliamentary elections might be affected amid mourning period
Frances Mao
With Hong Kong plunged into mourning in the wake of this tragedy, the city’s leader John Lee has declared that all immediate citywide celebrations will be postponed or cancelled.
All government resources need to be focused on Wang Fuk Court right now.
He suggested it might also affect elections on 7 December for the Legislative Council – Hong Kong’s mini-parliament.
For now, flags on government buildings will be flown at half-mast, and formal memorial services and mourning areas are being planned.
Events like this week’s light show on the harbour and a cycling marathon on the weekend have also been cancelled.
Updated at 09.22 EST
‘There should have been an alarm’Helen Davidson
I’ve been reporting from the Wang Fuk Court towers today, speaking to devastated residents. Many are still reeling from the disaster, and angry at the failure of warning systems.
Connie Chu had just returned home from grocery shopping to the apartment she had lived in for 42 years when she saw a mass of fire trucks. A neighbour told her to leave, even though none of them had heard a fire alarm.
“There should have been [an alarm],” she said. “When I came out I saw one building on fire, it was a horrible, huge fire. We were so worried.”
Chu and her neighbours were lucky – their building was the only one of the complex’s eight not to burn.
“I have a friend who lives in one of the other buildings and she’s in hospital. It seems quite serious.
On Thursday, the air was still filled with acrid smoke. A brief panic broke out when a flickering light in the window of a different block was mistaken for another fire.
Onlookers exchanged nervous looks when the breeze picked up: Wednesday’s fire was fanned by a stiff winter northerly, said James Tang, who lives in one of the towers.
Tang was not home when the building caught fire. He received a call from his brother-in-law who saw it from across the river. He rushed home but was stopped from entering.
“I watched from the outside as the building burned,” he said, speaking outside a local primary school which is one of the shelters for evacuated residents.
Tang’s friends in the complex are not among the missing, he said.
“But a lot of people died, especially the fireman. We are very sorry about this. The fireman tried to save us from the fire, tried to stop the fire and then he lost his life.”
ShareGrieving families search photos for victimsPeople leaving the centre where the deceased are being identified Photograph: Vernon Yuen/Nexpher/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Relatives looking for loved ones have been visiting a nearby community centre where the dead are being identified.
Police there have put up photos of the bodies pulled from the fire. Personal items have also been retrieved in many cases to help with identification.
People have left that building in tears, in significant distress.
“I cannot describe my feelings,” one woman told AFP. “There were children… I cannot describe it.”
Updated at 10.58 EST
Forced to bang on doors to alert neighbours
More and more residents are coming out saying they didn’t hear any fire alarms when the blazes broke out at Wang Fuk Court on Wednesday afternoon.
One man said he had to go door-to-door to raise the alarm and get his neighbours out.
“The fire spread so quickly. I saw one hose trying to save several buildings, and I felt it was far too slow,” one man surnamed Suen told AFP news agency.
Ringing doorbells, knocking on doors, alerting the neighbours, telling them to leave – that’s what the situation was like.
Such reports are being shared widely on Chinese and Hong Kong social media.
Updated at 08.46 EST
Man rescued from 16th floor stairwell
One more survivor has been found, fire services have also reported in the last hour. So far 56 people have been rescued, officials say.
The man was rescued from a stairway on the 16th floor of Wang Tao Tower, the South China Morning Post reported.
Rescuers are “battling high temperatures and carefully going up floor by floor, thoroughly searching and aiming to rescue people as quickly as possible,” said Wong Ka Wing, deputy director of the fire services.
“(We) don’t rule out rescuing more injured people.”
Updated at 08.08 EST
Death toll rises to 65
Officials confirm that 65 people have been killed in the fires.
At least 70 people are injured.
There were 279 people still missing, the city’s chief executive John Lee said earlier. It’s unclear how many remain trapped in the buildings.
Updated at 07.55 EST
Watch the fire’s spread across the towers on Wednesday night.
They had largely burnt out by Thursday evening.
Aerial video shows scale of Hong Kong apartment complex fire Share
Updated at 07.28 EST
Summary of Lee’s press conference
Here’s what we learnt from the official evening update from Hong Kong’s chief executive John Lee and other city leaders.
The death toll stands at 55 people as of 6pm Thursday local time, including 51 found dead at the scene.
At least 279 people are still missing a full 24 hours since the fires broke out on Wednesday. Desperate relatives are waiting outside the towers hoping for any news of loved ones
The fires have been brought under control across the seven of eight towers which caught alight
Firefighters are now racing to reach those who had been trapped on the upper floors of the 31-storey buildings
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have launched criminal investigations into the disaster – three construction company executives have been arrested on manslaughter charges accused of gross negligence
Photos of the dead have been released to the public
Photograph: Chan Long Hei/AP
It’s still unknown how the fire started but authorities appear to be apportioning blame for its rapid spread to styrofoam cladding, green netting and bamboo scaffolding that had adorned the buildings this past year. The towers had been undergoing renovations since July 2024
Bamboo scaffolding – a fixture across Hong Kong building sites and a tradition in the local industry- is now under scrutiny due to their fire risk
Lee said the city was discussing the immediate replacement of bamboo scaffolding across more than 100 sites in the city
Hong Kong’s government will give HK$10,000 to each affected household tonight, set up a HK$300m fund for residents and also have set up a public appeal for donations
Aid has been sought from Beijing and Shenzhen, the closest mainland city to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s leaders at Thursday’s press conference Photograph: Leung Man Hei/EPAShare
Updated at 08.12 EST