Hong Kong's deadliest fire: Probe begins evidence hearings

Hong Kong's deadly fire investigation reveals multiple failures causing the 2025 blaze that killed 168 and destroyed seven buildings.

An independent committee investigating the cause of Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades on Thursday (March 19, 2026) heard that a series of failures contributed to the blaze, which burnt seven buildings and killed 168 people, as it opened its first hearing on the evidence.

Former residents and relatives of the dead have been waiting for answers since November 2025, when the fire shattered the close-knit community of Wang Fuk Court, which housed thousands of people in the suburban district of Tai Po.

In his opening remarks, the committee's lead lawyer Victor Dawes said the fire is suspected to have started at a platform in a light well outside two low-level units, noting that cigarette butts were found there and on scaffolding.

Mr. Dawes said the evidence showed that multiple factors came together to produce the disaster, ranging from fire alarms and hose systems being shut off to the use of non-fire-retardant scaffolding netting and covering windows with foam boards.

“On the day of the fire, nearly all fire safety systems meant to protect lives failed because of human factors,” he said. The fire broke out on November 26, 2025 and quickly engulfed seven of the apartment complex's eight buildings. A number of people have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, fraud or corruption.

The judge-led committee, set up in December, will also examine if systemic problems such as bid-rigging existed in large-scale building maintenance and renovation works. The government said at the time that the committee's work was expected to take nine months.