A catastrophic fire ripped through a cluster of high-rise residential towers in Hong Kong's Tai Po district on Wednesday, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than a dozen others as firefighters struggled to contain a blaze that intensified after nightfall. Authorities raised the incident to a No. 5 alarm-the city's highest severity rating-after flames spread across bamboo scaffolding and green construction netting encasing much of the Wang Fuk Court housing complex, home to nearly 2,000 apartments.
Fire Services Department officials said the first emergency call was logged at 2:51 p.m. local time, minutes after residents reported a loud noise and saw flames erupt outside one of the 32-storey blocks. Strong winds rapidly carried the fire to adjoining towers, engulfing seven of the complex's eight buildings. Reuters witnesses described frames of scaffolding tumbling to the ground as the blaze intensified and thick black smoke flooded the skyline.
Authorities confirmed that one firefighter was among the 14 people killed and that more than 16 others were injured. Dozens of residents looked on from nearby walkways in tears, including a 71-year-old man identified only as Mr. Wong who said his wife was trapped in one of the towers. Another longtime resident, Harry Cheung, told reporters he heard "a very loud noise at around 2:45 p.m." before seeing flames erupt. "I immediately went back to pack up my things," he said. "I don't even know how I feel right now. I'm just thinking about where I'm going to sleep tonight because I probably won't be able to go back home."
UPDATE: The Fire Services Department raised the alert for the deadly Tai Po blaze to a No. 5 alarm - the highest - at 6:22pm. As of 6pm, five people are dead, three are in a critical condition, one in a serious condition and one in a stable condition. Full updates:… pic.twitter.com/bafLo0rp0f — Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) November 26, 2025
Video circulating across local and international media showed multiple towers burning simultaneously as flames blasted through apartment windows. Hundreds of firefighters, paramedics and police officers were deployed, with ladder trucks spraying water from elevated platforms as ground teams attempted to reach trapped residents through stairwells. Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Services (Operations), said conditions were extremely dangerous, noting, "Debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings are falling down," and "The temperature inside the buildings concerned (is) very high. It's difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations."
Fire Services Director Andy Yeung said additional residents remained unaccounted for as the blaze continued into the night. The department reported receiving "numerous" calls for assistance, and district officials confirmed that roughly 700 people had been evacuated to temporary shelters.
Authorities said the fire began on the exterior scaffolding of one block before spreading inside the building and across to neighboring towers. The housing estate has been undergoing HK$330 million in renovation work using bamboo scaffolding, a material still widely employed in Hong Kong despite government efforts announced in March to phase it out on public projects in favor of metal frames. Officials previously required that 50% of public works adopt metal alternatives due to mounting safety concerns.
The scale and speed of the blaze drew comparisons to the 1996 inferno that killed 41 people in Kowloon, prompting major reforms in fire and building codes. Tai Po, a densely populated suburban district near the border with Shenzhen, is home to more than 300,000 residents and features many aging residential complexes built during the city's rapid urban expansion.
As the fire raged, residents voiced frustration and uncertainty. "I've given up thinking about my property," a man identified only by his surname, Wu, told TVB. "Watching it burn like that was really frustrating."
