13 Dead, Dozens Injured as Blaze Rips Through Skyrise Apartments in Hong Kong

At least 13 people are dead and dozens more are feared trapped after a raging inferno tore through a high-rise housing complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Wednesday — in what officials are calling one of the city’s deadliest residential fires in decades.

The blaze broke out around 2:50 p.m. local time at Wang Fuk Court, a cluster of densely packed residential towers in the northern New Territories. Within hours, flames had engulfed the bamboo scaffolding that surrounded the complex, sending thick black smoke billowing over the city skyline.

Fire officials raised the emergency to a rare No. 5 alarm, Hong Kong’s highest fire alert level, by 6:22 p.m. Dozens of engines and ambulances flooded the scene as rescue teams struggled to reach residents still trapped on upper floors.

Four people were pronounced dead on the spot, and at least nine others were rushed to local hospitals, including the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital. By nightfall, the death toll had climbed to 13, including a veteran firefighter who succumbed to his injuries.

Tang Ping-keung, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Security, confirmed the firefighter’s death in an emotional statement: “I am profoundly grieved at the passing of Mr. Ho, who lost his life in the course of duty. I offer my deepest condolences to his family.”

Witnesses described scenes of panic and heartbreak. One man, 71-year-old Wong, was photographed weeping outside the burning complex, shouting that his wife was still trapped inside. “She didn’t make it out,” he told a local reporter, his face covered in soot.

Another resident, 83-year-old retiree Chan Kwong-tak, said the tragedy was worsened by malfunctioning safety systems. “The fire alarms never went off,” he told The South China Morning Post. “If someone was sleeping then, they were done.”

Several residents echoed his account, claiming they only learned about the fire when a building security guard knocked on their doors, giving them mere minutes to escape.

Local officials have promised an investigation into why the fire alarms failed. The Wang Fuk Court complex, built in the early 2000s as part of Hong Kong’s public housing program, had undergone renovations in recent years — including the controversial bamboo scaffolding that may have fueled the flames’ spread.

Fire safety experts in Hong Kong have long warned that the city’s aging high-rises pose a major risk. “Many of these buildings have outdated fire systems,” said Dr. Alan Tse, a safety engineer at the University of Hong Kong. “When scaffolding is involved, it acts like a ladder for fire to climb.”

As night fell, dozens of displaced families gathered at makeshift shelters set up by the Tai Po District Office at the Kwong Fuk and Tung Cheong Street community halls.

Emergency teams continued searching for survivors late into the evening. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, though officials suspect it may have started in a lower-level construction area before racing upward through the scaffolding.

The fire is one of the deadliest disasters Hong Kong has faced since the 2011 Mong Kok blaze that killed nine and injured dozens. Flags are expected to be lowered to half-staff as the city grieves the victims — including the fallen firefighter hailed as a hero.

“We’ve lost lives, families, and a brave man who ran toward the fire when others were running away,” said Tai Po resident Mei Lau. “We’ll never forget it.”

Source: Fox News Digital / South China Morning Post / Reuters (Nov. 26, 2025)