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Hong Kong’s Chief Government John Lee (C) and different authorities officers observe three minutes of silence to mourn victims of the Wang Fuk Courtroom residential property hearth, on the Central authorities places of work in Hong Kong on Nov. 29, 2025.
Peter Parks | Afp | Getty Pictures
Hong Kong on Saturday mourned the 128 individuals recognized to have died in a large hearth at a high-rise condominium advanced, a toll that’s prone to rise with 200 others nonetheless unaccounted for days after the catastrophe.
Authorities have arrested 11 individuals in reference to town’s worst blaze in practically 80 years as they examine doable corruption and the usage of unsafe supplies throughout renovations on the Wang Fuk Courtroom advanced.
Rescue operations on the web site within the district of Tai Po, close to the border with mainland China, concluded on Friday, although police say they might discover extra our bodies as they search the burnt-out buildings as a part of ongoing investigations.
The fireplace began on Wednesday afternoon and quickly engulfed seven of the eight 32-storey blocks on the advanced, which had been wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and inexperienced mesh and layered with foam insulation for the renovations.
Seek for our bodies continues
Authorities have mentioned the fireplace alarms on the property, dwelling to greater than 4,600 individuals, had not been working correctly.
Hong Kong chief John Lee, different officers and civil servants, all wearing black, stood in silence for 3 minutes early on Saturday outdoors the central authorities places of work, the place flags had been lowered to half-mast.
The Hong Kong (R) and Chinese language flags are flown at half-mast as authorities officers observe three minutes of silence to mourn victims of the Wang Fuk Courtroom residential property hearth, on the Central authorities places of work in Hong Kong on Nov. 29, 2025.
Peter Parks | Afp | Getty Pictures
Condolence books have been arrange at 18 factors across the former British colony for the general public to pay their respects.
“Our most heartfelt ideas are with all those that have misplaced family members and with those who at the moment are dwelling with shock and uncertainty,” Britain’s King Charles mentioned in an announcement in regards to the “appalling tragedy”.
At Wang Fuk Courtroom, cops from the catastrophe sufferer identification unit, carrying white overalls, helmets and oxygen masks, entered one of many charred buildings to proceed their seek for stays.
They climbed over mounds of bamboo scaffolding that had fallen throughout the catastrophe and round massive puddles of water created after firemen doused the buildings for days to attempt to decrease the temperatures inside.
A resident reacts as she speaks to the media within the aftermath of a significant hearth that swept by a number of condominium blocks on the Wang Fuk Courtroom residential property in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Nov. 28, 2025.
Dale De La Rey | Afp | Getty Pictures
Households and mourners gathered to put flowers whereas some confronted the grim process of taking a look at images of the useless taken by rescue employees. Authorities mentioned on Friday that solely 39 of the 128 useless had been recognized.
Hong Kong’s Lee has mentioned the federal government would arrange a HK$300 million ($40 million) fund to assist residents whereas a few of China’s largest listed corporations have pledged donations.
Folks pray on the aftermath of a significant hearth that swept by a number of condominium blocks on the Wang Fuk Courtroom residential property in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Nov. 28, 2025.
Philip Fong | Afp | Getty Pictures
Tons of of volunteers have additionally mobilised to assist the victims, sorting and distributing gadgets from diapers to scorching meals.
They fashioned groups to gather, transport and distribute items in round the clock shifts and have arrange a sprawling assist camp for displaced residents beside a shopping center throughout from the advanced.
Home employees from Indonesia and the Philippines had been additionally caught up within the tragedy. Hong Kong has round 368,000 such employees, largely girls from low-income Asian international locations who stay with their employers, typically in cramped areas.
Indonesia mentioned six of its residents died within the incident. The Philippines mentioned one in all its nationals is critically injured, one other is confirmed lacking, and 28 are considered residents of the world however their whereabouts are unknown.
Deadliest blaze since 1948
The fireplace is Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948, when 176 individuals died in a warehouse blaze, and has prompted comparisons to London’s Grenfell Tower inferno, which killed 72 individuals in 2017.
Residents of Wang Fuk Courtroom had been advised by authorities final 12 months that they confronted “comparatively low hearth dangers” after complaining repeatedly about hearth hazards posed by ongoing renovation, town’s Labour Division advised Reuters.
The residents had raised issues in September 2024, together with in regards to the potential flammability of the protecting inexperienced mesh contractors had used to cowl the bamboo scaffolding, a division spokesperson mentioned.
Firefighters inside one of many towers following a hearth on the Wang Fuk Courtroom residential property in Tai Po district in Hong Kong, China, on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
Hong Kong’s anti-graft physique mentioned it had arrested eight individuals on Friday together with an engineering marketing consultant, a scaffolding subcontractor and an middleman.
Earlier, police arrested two administrators and an engineering marketing consultant of Status Building, a agency recognized by the federal government as doing upkeep on Wang Fuk Courtroom for greater than a 12 months, on suspicion of manslaughter for utilizing unsafe supplies, together with flammable foam boards blocking home windows.
Status didn’t reply repeated requires remark.
Public anger over the fireplace has to date been muted, a stark distinction to mass pro-democracy protests of 2019 that prompted Beijing to tighten its grip on town.
Cops from the Catastrophe Sufferer Identification Unit wearing white-coloured full-body protecting gear, collect by the housing blocks of Wang Fuk Courtroom within the aftermath of the lethal Nov. 26 hearth, in Hong Kong on Nov. 29, 2025.
Yan Zhao | Afp | Getty Pictures
But some pissed off volunteers handed out flyers close to the property on Friday, demanding correct resettlement of affected residents, an overhaul of presidency oversight of development initiatives, and an impartial probe into the blaze.
As with different main hearth incidents like Grenfell, analysts say strain for solutions could shortly unfold past the development companies to authorities regulators.
The Hong Kong authorities has historically staged open inquiries into large-scale tragedies, typically headed by an impartial decide.
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