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Death toll continues to rise in Hong Kong high-rise fire as firefighters battle blaze for 2nd day

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Published  November 27, 2025 9:37pm EST
World
FOX Local
Hong Kong high-rise fire: death toll rises to 83

Hong Kong high-rise fire: death toll rises to 83

At least 83 people are dead, and hundreds more are missing after a fire at a high-rise complex in Hong Kong. The fire is one of the deadliest blazes in Hong Kong's modern history, according to the Associated Press.

The Brief

    • A Hong Kong high-rise fire killed at least 94 people and left hundreds missing.
    • Firefighters and rescuers worked for a second day as thick smoke poured from multiple apartments.
    • Three construction leaders were arrested as authorities investigate unsafe exterior materials that may have sped up the fire’s spread.

A devastating fire in Hong Kong has left at least 94 dead and hundreds more still missing.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, but it has forced officials to rethink using bamboo scaffolding in buildings, an ancient construction technique dating back over 1,000 years.

Deadly Hong Kong high-rise fire

Dig deeper:

Firefighters battled for a second day to extinguish one of the deadliest blazes in the city’s modern history in Hong Kong on Thursday.

Rescuers were still working going through apartments as thick smoke poured out from some windows at the Wang Fuk Court complex, a dense cluster of buildings housing thousands of people in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near Hong Kong’s border with the mainland.

FILE - Several apartments remain on fire and rescue efforts continue at the Wang Fuk Court residential buildings, in Tai Po, Hong Kong, on Nov. 27, 2025. (Photo by Emre Aytekin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

3 arrested in connection to the deadly fire

Three men, the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company, were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. Police have not directly named the company where they work.

"We have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent," said Eileen Chung, a senior superintendent of police.

Police on Thursday also searched the office of Prestige Construction & Engineering Company, which the AP confirmed was in charge of renovations in the tower complex. Police seized boxes of documents as evidence, according to local media. Phones for Prestige rang unanswered.

Authorities suspected some materials on the exterior walls of the high-rise buildings did not meet fire resistance standards, allowing the unusually fast spread of the fire.

The Source: Information for this article was taken from previous reporting by FOX Local and The Associated Press.

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