Devastating Fire at Hong Kong Housing Complex Raises Serious Concerns

Sun Dec 07 2025 04:24:32 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A massive fire at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong has killed at least 128 people and injured many more, leading to anger and demands for accountability from the local community.

A catastrophic fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a subsidized housing estate in Hong Kong, resulting in 128 fatalities. Criticism has focused on poor safety measures, including malfunctioning fire alarms. Authorities have begun an investigation into building materials and renovation practices, highlighting community concerns over transparency and safety in housing management.

Shock is giving way to anger in Hong Kong after a massive fire ripped through a densely populated subsidized housing estate on Wednesday, killing at least 128 people and critically injuring dozens.

Authorities say substandard mesh and plastic sheets on the buildings' windows may have spread the blaze, which raged for more than a day.

Firefighting operations have now ended, with dozens of residents still unaccounted for.

Questions are mounting as to how the fire at Wang Fuk Court spread so rapidly and who is responsible, with many calling it a man-made disaster.

Three people in charge of renovating the blocks are under arrest for manslaughter, and authorities have launched a corruption inquiry.

A post that has gone viral on social media in the wake of the blaze reads: It's not an accident. Several residents have revealed in interviews that the fire alarm did not sound when the fire broke out. Authorities said on Friday that they had checked the fire alarms in all eight blocks and found that they were not working properly.

Kiko Ma, who owns an apartment at Wang Fuk Court, said the alarms had been turned off amid renovation works, as construction workers regularly used fire escapes to get in and out of the building. This was preventable... A lot of people did not do their duties, she tells the BBC, claiming that the renovation firm used poor quality, flammable materials.

Residents often saw construction workers smoking and found cigarette butts along their window ledges, raising concerns about safety.

This incident has become Hong Kong's deadliest fire in at least 63 years, surpassing the toll of the August 1962 inferno, which killed 44 people. Built in the 1980s, Wang Fuk Court comprises eight 31-storey buildings, seven of which went up in flames. The apartments here are sold at subsidized prices, but daily affairs in the estate are managed by privately appointed firms.

In waking to the devastation, many residents had expressed nervousness over renovation plans and have renewed calls for a re-election of the estate's management committee. As investigations continue, the community remains in distress, grappling with loss and outrage over the possible shortcomings that led to this tragic event.