At least 13 people have died after a massive fire ripped through multiple residential towers in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Wednesday, with residents claiming building fire alarms never activated as flames spread.
The blaze erupted at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex around 2:50 p.m., rapidly intensifying and being raised to a No. 5 alarm — Hong Kong’s highest emergency rating — by early evening. Authorities said nine people were taken to hospital, where four were pronounced dead and several others remain in critical or serious condition.
A firefighter, identified as Mr Ho, also died from injuries sustained while battling the inferno, prompting senior security official Tang Ping-keung to offer condolences to his family.
Images from the scene showed bamboo scaffolding engulfed in flames and thick black smoke pouring from multiple floors, while desperate residents told local media that loved ones were trapped inside.
One distraught man was seen pleading for help, saying his wife remained in the building.
Residents reported that fire alarms did not sound when smoke began filling corridors, with some only alerted when security guards knocked on doors, leaving little time to escape.
Temporary shelters have been set up at local community halls for those displaced by the disaster.
Horrifying visuals from hong kong several buildings burned more than dozen people burnt alive . Rescue teams are trying very hard . Wishing for safety of everyone.#hongkong #hongkongfire #FireStorm #HongKongers pic.twitter.com/njZxB4zswF
— ɳ เ ร ɦ α (@itsnisha03) November 26, 2025
Another prime example outside of Grenfell Tower in the UK as to why these structures are NOT fit for human habitation…!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fires_in_high-rise_buildings
Always keep a fast-opening parachute available and practice base-jumping!
One will need such skills whe escaping a fire from a high-rise!…would have been useful during 9-11.
IF they all had base-jumping canopied parachutes, no one would have died jumping.
My chute cost $2200 bucks, but I took it with me everyday to work in LA based on the quake risks.
When I retired, I sold it on to an office colleague who stayed working on the 65th floor of our building.
Hong Kong’s problem is the government hasn’t freed up readily available land, for broader, better development. The result is people crammed into horrendous, claustrophobic, high rises, in small apartments or even just shared rooms, like chickens in tiny cages.
Many of the better off, live in the new territories, where they can afford an actual house.
Its what they’re not telling anyone that matters more. Chinese construction using poor materials then blaming it on bamboo scaffolding catching alight. Bamboo is used for cooking over a flame in china & hong kong & good luck getting that stuff to catch fire. Building in china catch fire all the time due to materials & piss poor electrical work aka tofu dregg