Massive Skyscraper Blaze in Hong Kong: At Least 44 Dead

[PeterRS]

For a city that has some of the most crowded parts of our planet housed in a vast number of high rise buildings, major fires in Hong Kong have been relatively uncommon. Yesterday afternoon, though, a massive one broke out spread out over seven tower blocks in the Tai Po district not far from the China border. 44 have been killed including one fireman and 279 remain unaccounted for. Many remain trapped in the upper floors which firemen are having difficulty reaching due to the intense heat at that level. With air-conditioning units having melted and no power, those on the upper levels still alive must be going through absolute hell.

Photo: Getty Images

Just after 7:00 am today Thai time the blaze had been raging for 16 hours and was still not under control. It is believed to be Hong Kong's deadliest fire since World War II. The cause of the blaze has not yet been identified. But experts have been saying it was made worse by the bamboo scaffoding surrounding the tower blocks which were having exterior renovation. Another has been inflammable polystyrene boards that have been covering many of the windows and which did not meet fire safety standards. Bamboo scaffolding is universal in Hong Kong and has been in use in mainland China for centuries.

Two directors of the construction company and one of its consultants have already been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

Location of the tower blocks

Photo from CNN website

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/hong-kong-tai-po-buildings-fire-11-26-25

[PeterRS]

The fires have now been brought under control in all but one of the towers. The death toll has now risen to 65 with nearly 300 still unaccounted for. Fear remains for those on the upper floors who would have had no means of escape in the burning heat. The fireman who died had been overcome by smoke after entering a building to look for survivors. Locally, the sentiment has changed from one of horror to anger., How did this happen and how were fire alrams not heard, if indeed they went off? There is some concern about a possible building collapse but this is regarded as remote. Major corporations in Hong Kong and mainland China have been quick to make donations to help those who have lost so much. Jack Ma and his Alibaba Group have pledged almost US$7 million, other Chinese companies $1.25 million each. A Hong Kong consortium of companies has already pledged $12.5 million. 

Photo: Yan Zhao/AFP/Getty Images

[vinapu]

unspeakable horror for those trapped inside , many likely will perish without trace in such heat

[PeterRS]

A real probem for this complex is that it housed mostly elderly people. The largest age grouping was those aged 65 and above. CNN has reported that of recent buyers, the youngest was in their 60s.

It was one of the government's low cost housing complexs of which there are many in Hong Kong. Private rentals are so high that a broom cupbord in the city centre is basically unaffordable for most. Government public housing is sold at very substantial discounts resulting in long waiting lists.

Residents of Wang Fuk Court became concerned about the cladding and fireproofing over a year ago when they started writing to the government about it. Between July 2024 and November 20 2025 the Labour Department had carred out 16 safety checks, the latest reminding the contractors of the need for fireproofing of materials. The death toll is now 94 with that total expected to rise to several hundred.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/27/asia/hong-kong-fire-survivors-questions-intl-hnk

[macaroni21]

15 hours ago, PeterRS said:

A real probem for this complex is that it housed mostly elderly people. The largest age grouping was those aged 65 and above. CNN has reported that of recent buyers, the youngest was in their 60s.

I have been following the news on this, and among the commentaries I have read (can't remember which one now) there was a truly sobering comment: the whole notion that the way to evacuate people in a fire is through the fire stairs has been called into question. These were 30-storey blocks. There must have been many elderly persons for whom going down 30 flights of stairs in a state of near panic would be physically impossible. Weak knees, weak hearts, poor eyesight....

Having been in a fire twice in my life, I don't fancy taking any risks. Silom Soi 2 is one alley I do not venture into. 

There was also one hotel in Vientiane which shocked me. I was returning to the hotel via a shortcut, which route took me past the side of the building where the exit of the fire stairs was. It was also where the back door of a restaurant was. And in the 2 metres of wall between one door and the next were cylinders and cylinders of cooking gas. Taking the fire stairs might lead you straight to an inferno of exploding gas cylinders.

[PeterRS]

6 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

I have been following the news on this, and among the commentaries I have read (can't remember which one now) there was a truly sobering comment: the whole notion that the way to evacuate people in a fire is through the fire stairs has been called into question. These were 30-storey blocks. There must have been many elderly persons for whom going down 30 flights of stairs in a state of near panic would be physically impossible. Weak knees, weak hearts, poor eyesight....

Two other issues concern me. The passages within each tower block were narrow. One or two people with difficulty moving could hold up untold others. The second is that when some felt the fire - apparently it is now known that none of the fire alarms were working - they immeditely took the lifts to safety. With  fire of such intensity, the chance of electricity failing is very high. The last place I'd want to get stuck in would be a lift between floors.

When I lived in Hong Kong for 20 years, I was in two high rise blocks - the first 25 floors up, the second 34 floors up. Views were naturally spectacular. With 4 and 8 apartments per floor respectively, there were two quite generously sized stair exits per floor all well located in the heart of the buildings. But as these were privately constructed high rises, they were not low cost like those in Wang Fuk Court, and so not many older people - at least that I was aware of.

When I stay in an hotel, the first thing I do is check the location of the fire stairs and count the number of doors I'll need to pass till I reach them. Once I was involved in a three-day event in Hong Kong's Ritz Carlton hotel located at the top of the tallest building and my room was on floor 117. I rather hoped they had parachutes in each room!

Here in Bangkok I live on the top floor of an eight-story building. There are smoke detectors in each unit and fire hoses and extingiushers on each floor but no sprinkler system. The main open staircase is wide but a perfect funnel for fire. When I moved in, a second staircase at the back did not even have doors. I led a campaign to convert those stairs into a fire escape. Now we have occasional fire drills and biennial demonstrations from the fire department on how to use the fire prevention equipment. Now it feels a lot safer.