MASSIVE FIRE IN HONG KONG APARTMENT COMPLEX......ALL 8 31-story apartment buildings burning with people trapped, at least 128 dead, 200 missing

[lightbright]

@Dr. Truth is getting his fire gear packed as we read

Residential building fire in Tai Po, Hong Kong....

At least 13 dead as more than 700 firefighters tackle Hong Kong blaze​

• At least 13 people have been killed and 15 have been injured in a major fire engulfing apartment blocks in the the Tai Po district of Hong Kong
• More than 700 firefighters are at the scene trying to tackle the blaze at Wang Fuk Court - which houses about 4,600 residents
• Dozens of fire trucks are deployed to the scene - even now, new trucks keep arriving, writes BBC Chinese's Phoebe Kong from the scene
• The government has paid tribute to a 37-year-old firefighter who died fighting the blaze, describing him as "dedicated and gallant"
• Some people are reportedly still trapped in the buildings, though that hasn't been confirmed
• The fire has been classed as a level five - the most serious level in Hong Kong

Where and when did the fire start?published at 08:57​

08:57​

The blaze broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a large housing complex in Hong Kong's Tai Po district, at 14:51 local time on Wednesday (06:51 GMT).

Wang Fuk Court consists of eight tower blocks, which are each 31-storeys high.

They provide 1,984 apartments for some 4,600 residents, according to the 2021 government census.

Built in 1983, the tower blocks were undergoing renovations, and the outside of the buildings was covered in bamboo scaffolding. Footage shows the fire spreading quickly through the bamboo.

Hong Kong fire: At least 13 dead as more than 700 firefighters tackle blaze

The fire has engulfed a number of buildings, with flames spreading on bamboo scaffolding. At least one firefighter is among the dead.

www.bbc.com

 

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Here’s the latest.​

A deadly blaze tore through several high-rise apartment towers in Hong Kong on Wednesday, killing at least 13 people, including a firefighter, and injuring 15 others, sending smoke billowing across the city's northern New Territories.

Hundreds of firefighters struggled to contain the inferno hours after it apparently started in one building at around 2:50 p.m. local time. The flames spread across multiple high-rise towers and several buildings were still ablaze late into the evening, more than six hours after it started.

A fire services department official said at a news briefing that 13 people had died and 15 had been injured. A government spokeswoman had said earlier that three of the first five injured people treated at hospitals were in critical condition, according to a report from the city’s hospital authority.

The authorities raised their so-called No. 5 alarm for the fire, their highest rating for fire severity, for the first time in nearly two decades.

It was unclear how many others were still trapped in the buildings. Officials with the police and fire services said they had received numerous calls for help from residents, prompting the authorities to escalate their response.

The Hong Kong Fire Services Department said that it had sent 760 rescuers to the site. John Lee, the chief executive of Hong Kong, said that he was activating the city’s Emergency Accident Monitoring and Support Center.

The towers at Wang Fuk Court, a dense complex of about 2,000 apartments, were sheathed in bamboo scaffolding, which is widely used in Hong Kong to construct and repair buildings. The apartment towers are in Tai Po, a district in the northeastern corner of the New Territories.

Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of the fire service department, told reporters at the news briefing that the rescue effort was hindered by falling debris and scaffolding as well as high temperatures inside the buildings, making it difficult to access units where residents might be trapped. The ladders of two fire trucks appeared to reach only about halfway up the sides of the 32-story towers.

Nozzles at the tops of the ladders sent jets of water into the middle floors of the burning buildings. But the tallest flames could be seen at the tops of the buildings, far higher than where the water was being sprayed.

Herman Yiu Kwan-ho, a former district councilor in Tai Po, said that he was in touch with a group of local residents, some of whom live in one of the buildings that caught fire. “More than ten residents said their family members are still at their homes,” he said by phone.

One resident told him that she was inside her apartment when the fire was blazing outside, and only evacuated when a security guard knocked on her door to tell her to leave immediately, Mr. Yiu recounted.

The government said it opened temporary shelters at nearby community centers and a school to accommodate residents. Local media published photos of some older residents being helped away from the fire and gathering at the shelters, and described police officers going from door to door to urge residents to leave.

The apartment buildings were built in the early 1980s. Bamboo scaffolding is often used for renovations to older buildings, which typically have a high number of senior residents who bought their apartments from the developer, moved in and never left.

The Hong Kong government announced plans last spring to begin phasing out the use of bamboo in scaffolding in favor of steel, which is widely used in mainland China. The government said at the time that steel scaffolding posed less of a risk of fires than bamboo, which is flammable.

Andy Yeung Yan-kin, Hong Kong’s director of fire services, said that a firefighter named Ho Wai-ho was among the dead. Another firefighter was being treated for heat exhaustion, Mr. Yeung said.

A century-old rail line that connects Hong Kong harbor to Shenzhen and the rest of mainland China, and which typically carries many thousands of passengers every day, runs within 300 yards of the complex. The authorities also closed parts of the nearby Tai Po Road, an important route for trucks going back and forth between Hong Kong and the mainland.

In October, the fire department attributed the rapid spread of a fire at an office building in Hong Kong’s central business district to scaffolding around the building. That fire injured four people and took more than four hours to put out.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11/26/world/hong-kong-fire#hong-kong-fire-apartment-buildings

 

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Hong Kong: 6 high-rise buildings on fire, people possibly still trapped inside | DW New​

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[Da Backshot Champ]

Chinks death bothers me none. This what they do to those dogs, cats, and bats. Tables turn and gooks burn!!!!!!

 

[tanks1]

You know the sprinkler system is jacked up

 

[big enos burrnet]

burning concrete coffins..

 

[Da Backshot Champ]

You know the sprinkler system is jacked up

Good!!!!!

 

[Da Backshot Champ]

burning concrete coffins..

The way it should be in gookeyville.

 

[Lexx Diamond]

I read about that earlier. So far there are 13 deaths. One the deceased is a fireman. They should consider using aluminum scaffolds.

 

[tallblacknyc]

Hong Kong: 6 high-rise buildings on fire, people possibly still trapped inside | DW New​

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Look like a scene out of an end of the world movie..rip to victims

 

[blackbull1970]

You know the sprinkler system is jacked up

The issue is they still use bamboo for scaffolding in China and other Asian countries.

It’s highly reliable and effective, but it’s wood and it burns quickly.

It’s why everywhere else they use steel/aluminum for scaffolding.

 

[Helico-pterFunk]

3 arrested in Hong Kong, as a high-rise fire leaves at least 44 dead and 279 reported missing

Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years burned through the night, leaving at least 44 people dead and 279 reported missing with rescuers still pulling residents from blazing high-rise apartment buildings into the morning.

www.ctvnews.ca

3 arrested in Hong Kong, as a high-rise fire leaves at least 44 dead and 279 reported missing​

By The Associated Press
Updated: November 26, 2025 at 8:45PM EST

Published: November 26, 2025 at 6:35AM EST

 

[illdog]

Every Chinese developer knows that...things like sprinkler systems/fire retardant materials/multi-elevators & stairwells..take out all tha crazy rich profit.

 

[Deezz]

 

[Deezz]

 

[Helico-pterFunk]

Why Hong Kong’s Latest Fire Is So Deadly

Dozens have died in one of Hong Kong’s deadliest fires ever, but a number of factors have made the Chinese enclave susceptible to such tragedies.

time.com

 

[ThaBurgerPimp]

That construction company about to get hit with lawsuits..

 

[lightbright]

Nothing left to do now is to locate the 200+ missing....



.

 

[Lexx Diamond]

Using bamboo scaffolding is like wrapping a building with sticks bound together with paper towels. It's always been a fucking disaster waiting to happen. They could recycle all those abandoned bikes and make reusable aluminum scaffolds.

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[lightbright]

That construction company about to get hit with lawsuits..

I see bankruptcy looming in their future as well as for their insurance company...... if they even have one.....

 

[Lexx Diamond]

I see bankruptcy looming in their future as well as for their insurance company...... if they even have one.....

That is the People's Republic of China. There may be executions.

 

[Helico-pterFunk]

 

[Helico-pterFunk]

Canadian watched childhood home burn as Hong Kong blaze killed more than 100 people | Globalnews.ca

A Toronto man says he’s heartbroken after a deadly fire tore through the Hong Kong apartment complex where he grew up, leaving more than 100 dead and many missing.

globalnews.ca