Hong Kong has suffered its deadliest fire in decades. Survivors are asking how it was allowed to happen

Deadliest fire in decades

As Hong Kong confronts its deadliest fire in many years, survivors and residents are questioning how such a catastrophe was possible in a dense, modern city. The blaze tore through the Wang Fuk Court public housing complex, leaving at least 94 people dead and hundreds still missing in a city of around 7.5 million.

How the fire unfolded

Around 3 p.m. on a Wednesday, about half an hour after a bystander first noticed flames growing in one of the eight residential towers at Wang Fuk Court, the situation had already escalated dramatically. Firefighters arrived quickly, but the fire had spread to neighboring towers that were undergoing renovation and were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding, allowing the flames to race up the 31‑story buildings as burning poles and beams fell from the exteriors.

Escape and immediate aftermath

One resident, identified only by his surname Wan, stayed in his eighth‑floor apartment watching television for about thirty minutes, initially dismissing the noise and distant sirens as routine city commotion. When he finally opened his window after hearing cries for help, he saw smoke, grabbed his two dogs and his wallet, and fled down an emergency stairwell that smelled strongly of gas, just before the incident was classified as a Level 4 fire, the second‑highest alarm on a five‑tier scale.

Over the following hours, the complex that housed more than 4,000 residents, many of them elderly, was rapidly engulfed. People returning from work and school stood outside with their bags, watching the orange flames spread as daylight faded.

Survivors’ losses

After spending the night in an emergency shelter set up in a sports center, Wan and his wife joined hundreds of displaced residents waiting anxiously for information. “There’s no home to return to,” he told CNN from the shelter, as volunteers moved through the crowd handing out food and drinks, adding, “We have lost everything, not even clothes.”

Scale of the tragedy

Authorities have confirmed at least 94 deaths so far, making this one of Hong Kong’s deadliest incidents in decades. Several hundred people remain unaccounted for, and the full toll of the disaster is still unclear as rescue and recovery efforts continue.

Questions over safety and responsibility

As residents watched seven of the eight towers burn within hours, they began to ask whether the rapid spread could have been prevented. Concerns have focused on construction safety, the impact of renovation works, and reports that some fire alarms were silent or disabled while work was underway.

According to early findings cited by officials, highly flammable materials such as styrofoam used around lift windows, along with external mesh netting and sheeting that did not meet fire safety standards, appear to have accelerated the blaze. Social media anger has grown after residents said they did not hear alarms when the fire began, with one resident telling reporters that alarms had been switched off during renovation because workers frequently used fire escapes.

Ongoing investigations and arrests

So far, three people have been arrested as authorities pursue both criminal and anti‑corruption investigations into how the project was managed and whether regulations were ignored or violated. The government is under mounting pressure to explain what went wrong, who should be held accountable, and how similar tragedies can be avoided in the city’s many aging or under‑renovation high‑rises.

Human cost and public mood

The atmosphere in Hong Kong has shifted from initial shock to intense grief and anger as the scale of the loss becomes clearer. Families search for missing loved ones while displaced residents struggle with the reality that they have lost homes, possessions, and, in many cases, neighbors or relatives in a matter of hours.

“There’s no home to return to. We have lost everything, not even clothes.”

Author’s summary

A renovation‑shrouded public housing complex turned into a deadly trap, exposing flammable materials, silent alarms and regulatory gaps that left Hong Kong residents grieving, homeless and demanding clear accountability.

CNN — 2025-11-27