![\"Helen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Helen_Davidson.png\")
Helen Davidson<\/p>\nDeath toll rises to 75, with 76 injuredHelen Davidson<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.10 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n As the scale of the tragedy becomes clearer, leaders around the world have turned to Hong Kong<\/a> to offer condolences.<\/p>\n A \u201csaddened\u201d Pope Leo issued a statement sending \u201cspiritual solidarity to all those suffering \u2026 especially the injured and the families who grieve\u201d.<\/p>\n Russian President Vladimir Putin has also sent a message to his ally, China\u2019s leader Xi Jinping, Russian media reported.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe worked for so many years to buy the house,\u201d James Tang tells my colleague Helen Davidson outside the towers.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd now it\u2019s gone up in flames.\u201d<\/p>\n You can watch Helen\u2019s report below:<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.57 EST<\/p>\n Death toll rises to 75, with 76 injured 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Hong Kong\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.10 EST<\/p>\n The community is reeling, and some are angry: police suspect the fire was caused by \u201cgrossly negligent\u201d action.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n By nightfall on Thursday, the surrounding area was still filled with people \u2013 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have enough material supplies, but they need emotional support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>City’s parliamentary elections might be affected amid mourning period With Hong Kong<\/a> plunged into mourning in the wake of this tragedy, the city\u2019s leader John Lee has declared that all immediate citywide celebrations will be postponed or cancelled.<\/p>\n All government resources need to be focused on Wang Fuk Court right now.<\/p>\n He suggested it might also affect elections on 7 December for the Legislative Council \u2013 Hong Kong\u2019s mini-parliament.<\/p>\n For now, flags on government buildings will be flown at half-mast, and formal memorial services and mourning areas are being planned.<\/p>\n Events like this week\u2019s light show on the harbour and a cycling marathon on the weekend have also been cancelled.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.22 EST<\/p>\n \u2018There should have been an alarm\u2019 I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThere should have been [an alarm],\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I came out I saw one building on fire, it was a horrible, huge fire. We were so worried.\u201d<\/p>\n Chu and her neighbours were lucky \u2013 their building was the only one of the complex\u2019s eight not to burn.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a friend who lives in one of the other buildings and she\u2019s in hospital. It seems quite serious.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Onlookers exchanged nervous looks when the breeze picked up: Wednesday\u2019s fire was fanned by a stiff winter northerly, said James Tang, who lives in one of the towers.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI watched from the outside as the building burned,\u201d he said, speaking outside a local primary school which is one of the shelters for evacuated residents.<\/p>\n Tang\u2019s friends in the complex are not among the missing, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Grieving families search photos for victimsPeople leaving the centre where the deceased are being identified Photograph: Vernon Yuen\/Nexpher\/ZUMA Press Wire\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Relatives looking for loved ones have been visiting a nearby community centre where the dead are being identified.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n People have left that building in tears, in significant distress.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot describe my feelings,\u201d one woman told AFP. \u201cThere were children… I cannot describe it.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.58 EST<\/p>\n Forced to bang on doors to alert neighbours<\/p>\n More and more residents are coming out saying they didn\u2019t hear any fire alarms when the blazes broke out at Wang Fuk Court on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n One man said he had to go door-to-door to raise the alarm and get his neighbours out.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fire spread so quickly. I saw one hose trying to save several buildings, and I felt it was far too slow,\u201d one man surnamed Suen told AFP news agency.<\/p>\n Ringing doorbells, knocking on doors, alerting the neighbours, telling them to leave \u2013 that\u2019s what the situation was like.<\/p>\n Such reports are being shared widely on Chinese and Hong Kong<\/a> social media.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.46 EST<\/p>\n Man rescued from 16th floor stairwell<\/p>\n One more survivor has been found, fire services have also reported in the last hour. So far 56 people have been rescued, officials say.<\/p>\n The man was rescued from a stairway on the 16th floor of Wang Tao Tower, the South China Morning Post reported.<\/p>\n Rescuers are \u201cbattling high temperatures and carefully going up floor by floor, thoroughly searching and aiming to rescue people as quickly as possible,\u201d said Wong Ka Wing, deputy director of the fire services.<\/p>\n \u201c(We) don\u2019t rule out rescuing more injured people.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.08 EST<\/p>\n Death toll rises to 65<\/p>\n Officials confirm that 65 people have been killed in the fires.<\/p>\n At least 70 people are injured.<\/p>\n There were 279 people still missing, the city\u2019s chief executive John Lee said earlier. It\u2019s unclear how many remain trapped in the buildings.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.55 EST<\/p>\n Watch the fire\u2019s spread across the towers on Wednesday night. <\/p>\n They had largely burnt out by Thursday evening.<\/p>\n![\"Hong](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764259748_459_1788.jpg\")
Hong Kong apartment fires continue to burn as people rally to support survivors \u2013 videoShare<\/a><\/p>\nHelen Davidson<\/p>\nHelen Davidson<\/p>\n![\"Frances](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Frances_Mao.png\")
Frances Mao<\/p>\nHelen Davidson<\/p>\n
![\"Aerial](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764259749_289_1920.jpg\")
Aerial video shows scale of Hong Kong apartment complex fire