Fire rages through Hong Kong high-rise residential complex, killing 13
Thirteen people were killed in a fire that spread across multiple high-rise apartment buildings in a Hong Kong housing complex, the city's fire services said Wednesday.
Nine people were declared dead on the scene and four others who were sent to the hospital were later confirmed dead, authorities told reporters.
About 700 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters.
The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke as it spread on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been set up around the exterior of the housing complex in Tai Po district, in the New Territories.
Video from the scene showed at least five buildings close to each other ablaze, with bright flames and smoke shooting out of many of the apartments' windows as night fell.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.
HONG KONG (AP) —
A fire spread across multiple high-rise apartment buildings in a Hong Kong housing complex on Wednesday, killing four people and leaving others trapped inside, authorities said.
Video from the scene showed at least five buildings close to each other ablaze, with bright flames and smoke shooting out of many of the apartments' windows as night fell. Firefighters were aiming water at the intense flames from high up on ladder trucks.
The raging fire sent up a column of flames and thick smoke as it spread on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been set up around the exterior of the complex in Tai Po district, in the New Territories. Records show the housing complex consisted of eight blocks with almost 2,000 apartments housing about 4,800 people.
The Hong Kong government reported four deaths and said five other people were hospitalized. Three of the injured were in critical condition, one in serious condition and the other person was stable, a brief statement said.
The dead included one firefighter and another was being treated for heat exhaustion, Fire Services Department Director Andy Yeung told reporters.
Police said they had received multiple reports of people trapped in the affected buildings, but did not provide details.
Lo Hiu-fung, a Taipo District Council member, told local TV station TVB earlier Wednesday that most of the residents trapped in the fire were believed to be elderly people.
The blaze started mid afternoon and after nightfall authorities upgraded it to a level 5 alarm, the highest level of severity, the Fire Services Department said.
District officials in Tai Po have opened temporary shelters for people left homeless by the fire.
"I've given up thinking about my property," a resident who only provided his surname, Wu, told TVB. "Watching it burn like that was really frustrating."
Tai Po is a suburban area in the New Territories, in the northern part of Hong Kong and near the border with the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Bamboo scaffolding is a common sight in Hong Kong at building construction and renovation projects, though the government said earlier this year that it would start phasing it out for public projects because of safety concerns.
26 November 2025, 18:37
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The photo explains what the story on Chinese official media failed to: "The Fire Services Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) deployed eight hose lines, seven aerial ladder trucks, 22 search teams, 128 fire engines, 57 ambulances, and 767 fire and ambulance staff for the rescue operation as local departments spared no effort in rescue work in a fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po that claimed at least 13 lives as of Wednesday evening.
Fire services estimated that strong winds and burning debris from the bamboo scaffolding spread to other buildings, causing the fire to extend across seven blocks of the housing estate, Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Headquarters) Derek Armstrong Chan said at an on-site press conference on Wednesday, local media Sing Tao Daily reported."
26 November 2025, 18:40
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No, here it is in the fourth paragraph: "The first building to catch fire covered an area of approximately 27 meters by 21 meters. It is a 32-storey residential building with external scaffolding erected for maintenance, according to the press conference." I missed it. 32 "storeys" of bamboo scaffolding!
28 November 2025, 00:50
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Global Times, the source of the excerpt, allows comments, but removed my comments on their stories on this fire which referred to the hundreds still missing. The regime is obviously very embarrassed, and indeed this looks like a massive foul-up. Google AI:Thinking Searching As of latest reports, approximately
250 people are still missing following the devastating fire at the Wang Fuk Court
housing complex in Hong Kong. The confirmed death toll is at least 83 people, with rescue operations ongoing.
Authorities have clarified that an initial count of nearly 300 missing has been reduced after contact was established with some residents, leaving the current estimate at around 250 individuals still unaccounted for. Firefighters are currently focusing search efforts on specific areas and conducting forcible entries into all units of the affected buildings to ensure no one is left trapped.
