Hong Kong Fire Inquiry Opens Hearings on Safety Failures

Hong Kong's independent committee investigating the city's deadliest fire in decades opened public hearings on Thursday, revealing that human errors rendered nearly all fire safety systems ineffective during the November 2025 blaze that killed 168 people at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po.

The fire, which broke out on November 26, 2025, rapidly engulfed seven of the complex's eight high-rise blocks, home to more than 4,600 residents, including over 1,700 people aged 60 or older. The incident, the world's deadliest residential building fire since 1980, occurred amid extensive renovations that covered the structures in bamboo scaffolding, protective netting, and foam boards. Victor Dawes, the lead lawyer for the judge-led panel established by city leader John Lee in December 2025, told the committee that the blaze likely started from cigarette butts on a platform in a light well outside two low-level units and on scaffolding platforms.

Dawes detailed a cascade of failures that allowed the fire to spread unchecked. Fire alarms had been deactivated in seven blocks, hose reels and hydrants were shut off, and staircase and corridor windows were removed or covered to...